Changes
by LilBitzer
Summary: After eleven months of being in Suna, Sakura returns to Konoha with a changed attitude. Tired of being weak and relying on the men in her life, she seeks help from Itachi to train her for the upcoming ANBU exams. Sakura is ready to prove everyone wrong.
1. Liquid Courage

Hey guys! New story here. I know I have finished any of my other ones and I promise to work on them but I just haven't found the motivation to write anymore in those stories. So this is an **ItaSaku** story but it will have hints of **GaaSaku** and a tiny bit of **KakaSaku** but that is for plot/story/interesting plot type of thing. No sexual action will occur between Kakashi and Sakura. Gaara and Sakura **were** in a relationship but you will read that Sakura doesn't have feelings for Gaara anymore because he broke her heart. These relationships are important in this story to help build the mentality of Sakura. I don't want to portray her as weak but you also can't just be like, "oh yeah, she can kick everyone's ass." No, that doesn't work. Sakura has flaws like everyone else and her biggest one is the lack of trust she has with men and things like that. This doesn't really follow Naruto at all but if it did, Itachi and Sakura wouldn't end up together which is BS so I am making up my own version. I promise to use as many of the rookie 9 and Kakashi's generation as possible. I apologize for any wrong names of things but I didn't have internet as I wrote this so I couldn't double check as I wrote it so stuff might be wrong. This will be rated M for Mature because of scenes between ItaSaku (the only lemons I will write will be between them). I think that's all I want to say. **Please keep flames to yourself** but I do appreciate constructive criticism. I don't think I am a fantastic writer by any means but I enjoy writing stories for people to read to help inspire them to also write. So, please review! Even if I have more than one chapter up and you just want to go to the next chapter to continue reading! I want to better myself as a writer and I can't do that if no one comments. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

A young woman, about the age of nineteen, walked the bustling streets of Konoha as she took deep breaths of the spring filled air that seemed to encompass her entire being. It was a warm June afternoon and sakura petals were falling to the ground as the wind started to pick up speed. This young woman had waist length hair that was braided matched the color of the fallen sakura petals. She found herself in a red tank top, black shorts and a black hoodie that was sleeveless and only went to right under her bust, a small backpack that was big enough for only the essentials and twin kodachi that were strapped to her back. She was dressed casually but she had just finished a mission that lasted months. The young woman's name is Sakura Haruno and she is a temporary member of ANBU of Konohagakure, or Konoha for short. The reason for this temporary status was because Tsunade could not send this kounichi on this mission without the status. The rules were simple. Technically she was ANBU but she did not have the tattoo, she could not claim she was ANBU (only if absolutely necessary) and her title was immediately revoked once she stepped through the Konoha gates upon her return. This has never happened before but the village needed to help their allies and this was the only way possible. Tsunade had to protect Konoha and her allies because this village is filled with civilians who, in times of crisis, could not defend Konoha. Konoha is the most advanced village amongst the major ones, although Kure would argue that they were more advanced. The young kounichi gave a chuckle at the thought because she has seen their hospital and Konoha's was much better equipped and cleaner. Quickly composing herself, she turned right onto the main street of Konoha and grabbed her head suddenly as the world seemed to flip upside down.

'_Damn, I should've stopped and made the trip in five days, not three and a half but I couldn't wait to get out of that desert and away from Suna! Although, I do miss Temari, Kankuro and Gaara.' _The young kounichi, whose name is Sakura Haruno, suddenly blushed at the image of the red haired Kage. Sakura scoffed and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the blush that had taken refuge on her cheeks. '_I mean, I was in Suna for almost a year now. I was bound to meet someone but unfortunately that ended quickly as soon as I was recalled back to Konoha. Temari tried to convince us it would work. I can still hear her voice ringing in my head, "If lazy-ass Shikamaru Nara can make it work with me, then you two could make it work," _Sakura chuckled as she made her way towards the looming Hokage tower. Normally, Sakura would go home and report in the next day after a mission but Sakura knew Tsunade would clock her one if she didn't report in right away. She made sure to avoid everyone by pulling her black hoodie over her noticeable pink hair. She kept her head down to the floor in the elevator and masked her chakra so she looked like a civilian. Sakura made it to the Hokage's doors unnoticed and pulled her ANBU mask out from her bag, for the last time, and quickly put it over her porcelain features so only her striking jade eyes showed through the holes. Delicate paint strokes came together to form the image of a lioness. Sakura opened both doors and walked into the Hokage office.

"Who the hell is bothering me at this time?" Sakura chuckled as the voice, which came from behind a stack of papers, belonged to the ever so graceful and eloquent sounding Hokage, Tsunade-shishou.

"Hello," Sakura lifted up her mask and paused for dramatic effect, "Tsunade-shishou." Sakura smiled when she heard the halt of pen scratching against paper. Suddenly, before Sakura could blink, Tsunade's bosom was in her face and she was being hugged so tightly that she could barely breathe.

"Sakura! I can't believe you are back! I wasn't expecting you for another day or so! You will have three days off to recuperate from your mission and then I want a fully detailed mission report." Sakura took a deep breath as Tsunade returned to her desk to continue paper work. "And I expect you to schedule a practice with Sasuke and Naruto on Thursday or Friday. I do not think Kakashi has a mission so I will make sure he gets a notification to speak with the three of you." Sakura nodded and looked curiously at the large stacks of paper on her deck.

"Um, Tsunade, why isn't Shizune doing your paperwork? All Kage's hand their paperwork off to someone else… Gaara-k, I mean, Gaara-sama always made Kankuro do his paperwork." Sakura noticed that Tsunade's pen faulted for a second when Sakura slipped up with Gaara's name. '_Damn, how could I slip up that easily…?'_

"Shizune has been on a mission for almost a week now that is scheduled to last about four to five months. We are sending her on a similar mission to yours, but to Ame which is more advanced than Suna. That is why I cannot give you a longer vacation because I am going to need to you to pick up a ton of hours at the hospital. It is going to fall apart without you or Shizune there for long periods of time. Now get out of here and go rest. You are barely standing right now." Sakura turned from Tsunade and started to walk towards the door and was about to open it when Tsunade's voice rang from behind the paper stacks. "Sakura, I don't need to know any… personal details about your stay in Suna. Just about how the hospital is running thanks to your stay and procedures that you put in place before we recalled you back." Sakura blushed but turned and smiled in affirmation towards Tsunade. "Oh, and return the mask please." Sakura looked down at the mask with her back towards Tsunade in silence and sadness. She had grown quite attached to this mask, even though it technically meant nothing. Sakura hesitated for a while before she turned and placed it on Tsunade's desk. Sakura noticed the loss of the mask and could feel the sadness consume her heart knowing that the chance of her holding that mask again was very small. But, before Sakura could walk through the doors, Tsunade stopped her with her voice, again. "Sakura, there is a spot in ANBU that I was forced to open. An ANBU medic position and you could apply, if you want." Sakura turned around in shock before smiling brightly. "Don't give me your answer now, I want you to talk to Sasuke and Naruto first but I know the captain specifically requested you, even though you are a jounin. And no, I will not disclose the name of the captain." Sakura frowned in protest but quickly sprinted down the stairs, absolutely ecstatic at the thought of joining ANBU.

'_It would be real. I could actually wear that mask with pride…_' Sakura walked outside and smiled, allowing the air to pass through the tiny gaps between her white teeth. Sakura was in a wonderful mood until she realized she had to go to her apartment. It wasn't necessarily her apartment that she detested, although it was shitty, but she had to pass by the Uchiha Compound and she hated most of the people in the compound besides Sasuke, his mother, his brother and his cousin Shishu. And Sakura wasn't even sure about the last two. Itachi has never spoken her and Shishu was such a damn flirt that she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be flattered or offended.

Sakura growled at living next to over a hundred Uchihas. They were always stoic and would laugh when they saw her leaving her apartment building or arriving. Sakura knew her apartment wasn't an extremely lavish thing to look at but she was living on the salary of a jounin and therefore had the basics. It was a small three room apartment that had a bedroom with a bathroom attached to it, living room and kitchen. Her life was filled with simplicity ever since her parents passed away. She did not have any movies and cannot remember the last time she turned on her television, besides the fact that she had just been gone for eleven months. '_I bet the Uchihas loved not seeing me around their compound for eleven months.'_ For some reason, ever since she got on Team 7, her relationship with most of the other Uchihas has been strained and on unfriendly terms. Sakura would always be glared at or ignored by the Uchihas so, in retaliation, she would throw them her own dirty glares and would (immaturely) stick her tongue out when she thought they weren't looking. The Uchihas of her generation were the worst to her. She knew that Sasuke was just like every other Uchiha, stoic and always grumpy looking, but he was nice to her and treated her like a human being. She was happy that he was her teammate but wondered if her life would have been easier if she and Sasuke were never teammates. Quickly brushing the thought out of her mind, Sakura remembered when he moved out of the compound three months after his brother, Uchiha Itachi, left the compound. Sakura remembered the reaction of the Uchiha's when Itachi threatened to refuse the title of Head of the Uchiha Clan, strip himself of title of heir and the last name of Uchiha, if he was not permitted to leave the compound and survive on his own. All the money he spent was from the ANBU missions he took and he actually allowed people to pay for private training sessions sometimes. Sakura thought about asking him once or twice for a training session to improve her taijutsu but she was quickly sent on her mission and the thought quickly became nonexistent.

Mikoto, Sasuke and Itachi's mother, was the "voice of reason" as Sasuke put it when this whole affair occurred. Sakura smiled at the memory of Mikoto's warm face that contrasted immensely with the rest of the Uchihas. Mikoto became like a surrogate mother to Sakura after her parents passed away. Sakura started to tear up at the thought but quickly shook the feeling from her shoulders like a speck of dust. Almost at her apartment, Sakura didn't notice the person in front of her, who was talking to another person, and lightly bumped into them. Embarrassed, Sakura exclaimed her apologies and as she bent down to help pick up the objects that spilled from a bag, Sakura's hoodie fell off her head and exposed her pink hair.

"Sakura!" Sakura looked up quickly to see Sasuke and his mother side by side. Sakura smiled sheepishly and stood up and handed Mikoto her bag of things.

"Ah, hello Sasuke and Mikoto-san." Sakura nodded her head at Sasuke, knowing he didn't really do the whole "hug another person" thing. It was a simple quirk he had but everyone has a quirk or two.

"Sakura-chan, how many times have I told you to call me Mikoto and not Mitoko-san." Mitoko's pearly white teeth showed as she smiled brightly at Sakura. Sakura looked awkwardly to the ground and squirmed under the gaze of Mitoko.

"Anyway, I must return to my apartment. I am very tired and haven't eaten in a while so if you will excuse me…"

"Then you must join us at the compound for dinner! Oh, Sasuke, will you please go get Naruto as well? Fugaku is out of town so there won't be someone to gripe about a demon being in his house, grumpy old man." Sasuke groaned but refused to complain as he started walking towards Naruto's apartment which was about a five minute walk away. Mitoko practically dragged Sakura towards the compound in a comfortable silence and Sakura smiled as the sun hit her face.

"So, how was your mission?" Mitoko opened the door and Sakura quietly thanked her as she walked in and removed her shoes. Mitoko and Sakura ended up in the kitchen and Mitoko was giving directions of what to pull out of the refrigerator.

"My time there was good… I kind of, met someone in Suna." Sakura started chopping the vegetables for the stir fry they were going to prepare.

"Oh? And who was this man?" Mitoko nudge Sakura lightly with her elbow and chuckled.

"Promise not to tell anyone? I mean, it isn't going against mission confidentiality but I don't really have anyone to confide…"

"Of course you can tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone else!"

"Um, it was actually Gaara-kun…"

"THE KAGE?" Mitoko screamed at the top of her lungs before clamping her hand over her mouth.

"Mitoko!" Sakura hissed, looking around to see if anyone heard.

"I am sorry but that is such a surprise! He seemed so emotionless when we met him…"

"He is hard to understand but after being there for a few months and Temari as my only friend, we began to hang out and I would help him with strategy plans to help Suna and eventually we were in his office one night, working late and one thing led to another." While Sakura thought back to her first encounter with the stoic red-headed kage but while temporarily distracted, Sakura miss placed her thumb and cut her finger. Sakura didn't have any chakra left so she ran it under cold water and hissed as the blood ran down the drain.

"Oh Sakura, are you okay? And that sounds like such a romantic story…" Mitoko grabbed a rag and quickly wrapped Sakura's finger and put pressure on the wound. Once the bleeding stopped, Mitoko placed her hand over the cut and closed her eyes as she focused on her task.

"Mitoko, what are you-"

"Shush. I am concentrating." Mitoko's hand glowed as a light green chakra enveloped her hand. Sakura felt her finger itch as the skin stitched together, not even leaving a scar. Sakura observed Mitoko and watch as sweat beads formed on her forehead and then, through the force of gravity, eventually fell down the side of her face and onto the floor. Sakura felt compelled to allow Mitoko this chance to use chakra because from every indication, she never got to exercise her chakra veins so she was severely out of practice. But, the smile on her face indicated that she was so happy to be healing someone again. When she was finished Mitoko removed her hand and sat down on a kitchen chair that was usually there for decoration. It creaked under the weight but held firm as Mitoko sat, breathing heavily. Sakura handed her a napkin and Mitoko took it graciously.

"Wow, that was fun. Anyway, so…? What are you two doing now?"

"Oh, we ended it. It was too complicated. I mean, Temari and Shikamaru can do it because Shikamaru regularly travels to Suna but I don't. I like him and everything, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life with him and so I don't want to put in the effort of a long distance relationship." Sakura winced from the small lie she told but Mitoko didn't need to know her true feelings she had for Gaara so she just started frying everything when Naruto and Sasuke walked into the house.

"Mother! We are home."

"MITOKO! I AM HERE FOR FOOOD!" The loud but lovable Naruto felt the need to yell obnoxiously.

"In the kitchen!" Mitoko yelled but softly because she was still a little exhausted.

"Mother, are you okay?"

"Oh yes, Sakura cut herself and I decided to try and heal her!"

"Not try Mitoko-san, you healed me." Sakura smiled towards her boys and walked over to Naruto and hugged him quickly before returning to their stir fry.

"Mother, you haven't used chakra in decades."

"Don't make me sound so old Sasuke." Mitoko stood and started setting the table. "Make yourself useful and go fetch your brother." Sasuke grunted and walked upstairs while Sakura, Naruto and Mitoko sat down and stared at Sakura as she recounted her mission that occupied her time for the last eleven months in Suna. Sakura started to tell her tale of the first few months, which was boring but she was about to get into a more detailed battle when she was interrupted.

"And then…" Sakura lost her train of thought as Sasuke and Itachi walked into the room. It was not Sasuke that demanded her attention but the Uchiha to his left. Clad in a grey tank top, that left nothing to her imagination and black cargo pants that hung low on his hips Itachi walked quietly into the room. But it was not his clothing that caught Sakura's attention, it was the fact that his hair was not tied back but was actually loose and flowing behind him. Sakura's mouth became dry and her heart started to race. Sakura shook her head and stood up and grabbed dinner. "And then we were out collecting herbs and I was showing the nurses and doctors which ones helped certain illnesses and such when suddenly cloud ninja have surrounded us on all sides." Sakura paused as she scooped some stir fry onto Mitoko's plate and then Itachi's who was sitting to her right. Naruto and Sasuke served their own servings as Sakura told the rest of her story. "Anyway, so there we were, and I was the only shinobi trained in hand to hand combat, which is something I advised Suna to fix, and there was about five enemy shinobi. So I took all five down. I kicked some serious ass!" Sakura laughed as Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Five enemy shinobi? Are you serious Sakura-chan! You could have been killed!" Naruto yelled, food still in his mouth.

"Naruto, I am a shinobi. Dying is a part of my job description you dumb ass. The only way you don't die is by becoming the strongest shinobi." Sakura glanced sideways at Itachi as she said this and kept eating her food. Itachi raised his eyebrow slightly as he ate his food in silence.

"Okaa-san, this is delicious." Sakura smiled behind her chopsticks and Mitoko giggled.

"Well, you should thank Sakura because after I healed her cut, I had to sit down and she actually cooked this meal." Sasuke, Naruto and Itachi paused slightly and kept eating, surprised that Sakura knew how to cook.

"Anyway, I can't recall eleven months' worth of exciting events but I had an awesome mission to Suna but I would be happy if I never saw sand again." Sakura rested her chopsticks across her plate and looked to see everyone else was done. "Well, I will do the dishes," Sakura held up her hand as Mitoko protested, "because Mitoko is obviously too exhausted and must go sleep and I know that Sasuke and Naruto are itching to spar." Naruto and Sasuke grinned like fools at each other before sprinting outside. Echos of 'teme' and 'dobe' could barely be heard over the sounds of Rasengan and Chidori. "Boys." Both Sakura and Mitoko laughed and Sakura started clearing all the dishes into the sink. Mitoko excused herself to go bathe and sleep, leaving Itachi and Sakura alone in the kitchen.

"Do you need assistance, Haruno-san?" Itachi looked curiously at Sakura from the table as she went back and forth, trying to get all the dishes by the sink.

"If you would like to help, Uchiha-san, I would not be one to deny you. Please help me bring all the dirty dishes to the sink." Sakura started washing the dishes and placing them in the dishwasher while Itachi continued to bring the rest of the dishes to the sink.

"Anything else Haruno-san?"

"Actually, you could call me by my first name, Sakura." Sakura smiled as bubbles rose from the sink and she laughed as it popped in front of her nose.

"Then I would make the request that you call me by my first name." Itachi sauntered out of the room, leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

'_Why is he being all nice?_' Sakura finished the dishes and went outside to see Sasuke and Naruto breathing heavily about twenty five yards away from each other.

"All finished boys?" Sakura laughed as their heads snapped towards Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-chan! You wanna spar?"

"Not today Naruto. I am just starting to get my chakra back so I can't. But you want to meet at training area seven tomorrow? At around 5:30 PM?"

"Sure Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme will come too!" Sakura gave a laugh before she excused herself and walked back through the house, slipped on her shoes and opened the sliding door.

"Sakura." She spun around and saw Itachi standing there in the same cargo pants but had on a black Uchiha shirt with a crest on the back.

"Yes, Itachi?"

"I will walk you to your apartment."

"You don't have to…"

"I am aware of the unfriendly attitude my family has towards you." Itachi walked out the door and turned, waiting for Sakura to follow him.

"Um, uh… thank you" Sakura rush to Itachi's side and then they walked side-by-side through the Uchiha compound, getting unfavorable looks from every Uchiha in the compound.

Sakura and Itachi walked in uncomfortable silence towards her apartment, neither knowing what to say to the other. Sakura didn't feel as though they were close enough for small talk and she has never had a real conversation with the Uchiha next to her so she didn't know what to say.

'_Maybe I should ask him to train me…_' Sakura was about to voice her question but Itachi spoke up before her.

"I believe this is your building." Sakura let out a little noise when she realized that he was correct, they were now standing in front of her apartment building.

"Thank you Itachi-san…" Itachi raised his eyebrow and Sakura sighed, "Okay, Itachi."

"You are welcome, Sakura." And with that, Sakura watched the back of the young Uchiha walk towards the compound.

'_Well, that was certainly strange…_' Sakura chuckled and walked up the stairs towards her apartment. Each step creaked as she put weight on the old wood that obviously needed to be replaced. '_Lazy ass owner._' Sakura hated living in this apartment because it was incredibly small and old but she could not afford anything else on a jounin salary. '_Now, if I was ANBU I could easily leave this apartment for a nicer one on the opposite side of town._' Sakura allowed herself to daydream as she climbed up the three flights of stairs. '_Damn stairs…_' Sakura finally made it to her door and stepped into her dusty apartment after unlocking it. She looked around and noticed that there was no dust coating the room, even after months of being away. '_Maybe Tsunade-shishou forced a genie team to clean it._' Sakura let out a laugh at the image. She placed her bag down and quickly changed into more comfortable clothes. Immediately she went to her bed, went under the covers and fell asleep. The last thought was a positive one, '_So glad to be home… Everything will go back to normal._' But Sakura didn't realize just how wrong she was.

Sakura awoke to find herself in a comfortable bed and realized she had a dreamless night. She looked around, gathering her wits about her and noticed her chakra was fully restored. Sakura clenched her fist and watched as her chakra climbed up her wrist and through each individual chakra path in her palm and fingers. Sakura loved this feeling of having complete control over her chakra. Sakura knew that no matter what, even if her life was spinning out of control, she would have perfect and absolute control over her chakra and that feeling comforted Sakura. Changes in life were inevitable and Sakura understood that nasty reality but she refused to allow everything in her life to change and be unpredictable. Sakura sighed and looked at the clock and read the time.

'_Wow, it is already 2:30._' Sakura started to ponder what she should do on her day off but she quickly remembered she promised to train with Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, stripping herself of her clothes on the way and started running water for a shower. Taking her time, she allowed the warm, almost blistering, water to run down her body. She stood in the shower for almost ten minutes before she started shampooing, conditioning, and shaving. The process took almost an hour because Sakura enjoyed as the water seemed to relax the muscles in her back. Getting out, she decided to go see some of the friends she left behind for eleven months. After getting dressed in black shorts, a white tank top with a black one underneath and black shinobi shoes, Sakura walked to her kitchen and made a small breakfast before heading out the door. As soon as she walked outside and realized how hot it was, Sakura immediately tied her hair up into a high ponytail. Deciding to go visit Kakashi first, Sakura walked down the three flights of stairs and started towards Kakashi's apartment. Soon, Sakura realized she was going to pass by the Yamanaka flower shop so Sakura decided to stop in to see if Ino was working today.

Sakura opened the door to the flower shop and was immediately graced with the cold, brisk feeling of air conditioning colliding with the small drops of sweat that seem to accumulate on her skin. The feeling of being surrounded by the hot and stifling air outside to the artificial cold air of the Yamanaka shop gave Sakura goosebumps on her bare arms and legs. Sakura noticed Ino before she noticed Sakura. Sakura gave out a small chuckle at the obviously frustrated kounichi that was sitting behind a counter right now instead of training with her teammates. Her long blond hair, even longer than Sakura's, trailed down her back in a high ponytail. Ino was still adjourned in pretty much the same purple outfit since they were genin but she had more curves, rivaling the Hokage easily which caught the attention of almost every male in Konoha, except for a few. Ino always gives Sakura grief because she, before Gaara, never had a boyfriend and was a virgin up until she left for Suna. Sakura laughed loudly when Ino slammed her pencil down on the paper, easily breaking the tip of the pencil. Ino, shocked at the presence of another human being, stared wide-eyed at Sakura in total shock.

"SAKURA!" Ino jumped over the counter, ran to her best friend and almost tackled her to the ground in a hug.

"Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled right in Ino's ear.

"I can't believe you are home! It has been so long! You have to tell me everything about your trip to Suna!"

"I will, I will but I already promised Naruto and Sasuke that I would spar with them at 5:30 and I want to get there early."

"Fine forehead but tomorrow you are meeting me for lunch at the Konoha bar for some drinks." Ino winked at Sakura before grabbing a small flower and tucking the stem behind her ear. "You look so more mature after eleven months of being away." Ino's eyes looked sadden, almost like a mother's eyes that lay upon their child-shinobi that was forced to take someone's life for the first time. Sakura almost questioned the emotion in Ino's eyes but was interrupted but a sudden outburst from the loud, blond kounichi. "Well then, off you go! Tell everyone I say hi! And don't forget about tomorrow!" Ino shooed Sakura out of the shop and forced her back into the heat. Sakura could already feel the sweat forming as she walked towards Kakashi's apartment.

Kakashi's apartment was not too far away but by the time Sakura reached his apartment building, the heat had died down a little bit because the clouds graced the sun with their presence. Sakura relished in the moments of indirect sunlight and a light breeze as she called up to Kakashi's window.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura knew that even if her old sensei was sleep, he would be awake by now. She waited only moments until a tired and shirtless Kakashi appeared on his balcony.

"Sakura? Is that you? Come on up." Sakura nodded, a light blush gracing her cheeks at the state of undress her sensei was in.

"I'll be right up." Sakura walked up the two flights of stairs and knocked on the first door on the left at the top of the staircase. Kakashi opened the door, still shirtless, and stepped aside allowing room for Sakura to enter. Sakura kept her eyes focused on Kakashi's face trying to avoid staring or drooling at the sight of her incredibly fit sensei.

'_Oh my god, Sakura, stop thinking like this! He is fourteen years older than me!_' Sakura quickly shook the thoughts from her mind and smiled at her ex-sensei.

"How have you been Sakura? It's been almost a year since you've been here. Did you get in today?" Kakashi walked into the bedroom and slipped on a tank top before rejoining Sakura in the living room.

"I have been great. Happy to be back in Konoha and I got in yesterday but was too tired to make the rounds to see everyone."

"I see." A silence enveloped the room and neither knew what to say to the other. Sakura cleared her throat and turned to Kakashi.

"I wanted to invite you to spar with Naruto, Sasuke and I at 5:30 at training ground seven. I learned some new stuff at Suna and wanted someone to witness me kicking their butts." Sakura winked at Kakashi who chuckled at her childish antics.

"Yare, yare. You are stirring the pot there Sakura but alright. I will be there around 6 though; I am meeting Genma for drinks."

"Bring him along if you want, I am sure he would love to tease Naruto and Sasuke for losing to a girl." Sakura started laughing uncontrollably at Kakashi's widened eyes.

"Sakura, you have never been this sure of yourself, what happened in Suna?" Sakura immediately stopped laughing after hearing the serious tone in his voice.

'_I guess this is what Ino meant by more mature._' Sakura sighed before looking at Kakashi with a hardened gaze.

"I was tired of being weak I guess. I mean, I still have a lot to learn but I was trained by the Sand siblings. Kankuro helped me with chakra control even more by controlling puppets, Temari gave me two twin kodachis and I trained with her and Gaara helped me become more rounded in my taijutsu, forcing me to wear weights like Lee. And I was forced to fight on my own a lot, even outnumbered and out skilled I had to force myself to survive. It was a tough eleven months. I guess I grew up." Sakura didn't notice Kakashi's approach but suddenly, his fingers were under her chin, tilting her face up towards his. Sakura, at 5 feet 6 inches was towered over by all the males in her life by 3-5 inches. Kakashi's eyes hardened at Sakura and murmured something that Sakura had to concentrate to hear.

"Yes, you have matured." Kakashi leaned in a little bit but before Sakura could react, he walked away into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. Too shocked to register Kakashi's actions, Sakura yelled into the kitchen that she was leaving and Kakashi yelled back that he would see her at six with Genma. Sakura showed herself out and looked at the clock at the end of the hall. It read 4:45. Sakura decided to head back to her apartment to get her things for training. The walk back was peaceful, the sun already starting to set, cooling down the whole village. Sakura encountered a group of teenage Uchiha girls as she walked back to her apartment.

"Hey pink haired freak!" Sakura made a point to ignore the girls but they were relentless. One grabbed Sakura's arm and forced her to turn around to face the group. Sakura knew she could have ended this quickly but decided to allow these girls a little bit of fun before she ruined their day. Sakura recognized only two of the five girls but knew they were all citizens and couldn't use extreme measures to rid herself of these annoying brats. The first girl, the leader, was Ame. She was a relatively pretty girl but her attitude and personality made her extremely ugly and annoying in Sakura's opinion. She had dark black hair, like every other Uchiha and black eyes which were almost piercing compared to Sakura's jade eyes. She had high cheekbones and carried herself with the ultimate grace and poise of an Uchiha until she opened that loud mouth of hers. Sakura looked to the second girl, Hikaru, who was a relatively quiet girl who hung around Ame for the sake of not getting picked on by her. She was pretty as well but she was so unsure of herself that her parents had to put her in an arranged marriage with a boy because they were afraid she would never marry. Sakura snorted at the idea but quickly turned her attention back to Ame.

"Hello Ame, is there something you need?" Sakura tried to be as calm as possible but Ame made it very difficult.

"Yes. I need to you stop hanging around Itachi-kun! I saw you with him last night and I don't want to see it again!" Ame stomped her foot angrily at Sakura but she did not even flinch at the dominating gesture.

"Ame, what Itachi and I do together is none of your business. He was walking me home because he knew of the ill feelings the Uchiha's have against me." Sakura started becoming annoyed at Ame's voice and was about to tell her to kindly 'fuck off' when the girls gasped and became tight lipped. Sakura noticed a shadow consume her and turned around and saw Itachi standing only inches behind her.

"Umeko-san," Itachi's black eyes bore directly into Ame's with a cold and calculating glare, "I request that you leave Sakura alone and to stop bothering her with your pathetic antics to get my attention." Itachi looked at all of the girls who promptly turned and ran in the opposite direction but Ame had the nerve to stop and turn towards Sakura and Itachi.

"This isn't over yet you freak." Ame turned and ran before Sakura could chase after her with a chakra laced hand.

"I apologize for my family's actions." Itachi started walking away before Sakura could comment but she found her voice and called after her.

"Wait!" Sakura ran towards Itachi but did not think he would turn and stop so quickly and almost ran into the stoic Uchiha. Itachi gave Sakura a questioning stare and Sakura seemed to have lost her voice again. "Um, uh… I was wondering..." Sakura mumbled the rest and blushed, thinking that she sounded really stupid for asking this.

"I couldn't quite hear you Sakura."

"I was wondering if you would train me for ANBU." Sakura couldn't help but clasp her hands over her mouth and started mumbling that it was a stupid request and that she wouldn't even be able to pay him very well for his time. Sakura turned and started walking away but was stopped when Itachi appeared in front of her.

"I will." Sakura gasped and looked up at Itachi with wide eyes.

"But I can't pay you that much…" Sakura felt ashamed for the lack of money she had to offer this man who was born into money.

"Money is not a concern. I do need to spar with you one day this week to understand your strengths and weaknesses."

"Okay, I am free tomorrow after lunch."

"Good. Training ground three." Itachi started walking away but Sakura's voice stopped him.

"Is there anything I need to bring?"

"If you have these items; weights, a weapon, and kunai." Itachi nodded to Sakura and turned and walked away. Sakura was absolutely ecstatic at the prospect of her being trained by Itachi that she ran up to her apartment, gathered her things and made it to the training grounds about ten minutes early. Sakura put her weights on her ankles and wrists but instead of being chunky and overbearing, they were silver bands that were chakra laced which changed the density. Right now, Sakura had 275 pounds on each ankle and about 200 on each of her wrists. Sakura remembered when she first got these weights there was only 50 pounds on each ankle and 45 on each wrist.

_ Sakura could feel the sand under her feet and already hated Suna, only a month and a half into her stay. She had started training with the Sand siblings only three weeks into her stay, an order from Tsunade to make sure she kept up with her skills as a kounichi._

_ "Sakura. Pay attention." Sakura snapped her head up towards the cold and stoic male voice of the Kazekage. _

_ "Gaara-sama? I thought Temari was teaching me today." Sakura shifted under the intense gaze of the powerful shinobi._

_ "She is busy but gave me orders as to what I was to show you." Gaara moved forward towards Sakura but she took an involuntary step backwards, knowing only a part of Gaara's strength and still terrified at the idea of him being near her. Gaara's eyes sadden a little but became stone cold as he tossed her the silver bands. Sakura looked at them confused but silently understood that she should put them on her arms and legs. After they were secured, Sakura looked to Gaara for more instructions._

_ "If you would not mind me touching you, I would like to do what Temari asked of me." Sakura blushed, embarrassed that she reacted the way she did but gave Gaara a silent consent by nodding her head. As he approached, he first bent down to touch her ankles and Sakura found her voice._

_ "I am sorry for my reaction earlier Gaara-sama. It was uncalled for and extremely rude to prejudge you the way I did. I am just wary of you because I know you are very strong which I will admit, I am jealous of." Sakura blushed even more when Gaara looked up at her with a slight curve upwards of his lips._

_ "Arigato Sakura-san. I appreciate your honesty." Gaara then held her right hand between his and Sakura noticed, despite being male, how soft his hands were. This made her self conscious of the fact that she had calluses because of holding kunai. Sakura eventually realized that Gaara didn't need weaponry because of the sand he had on his back. Then, Gaara grabbed her other hand it held it gently. Sakura was so focused on studying Gaara's face that she didn't even notice her arms feeling heavier until Gaara released his hold on Sakura and stepped back. Sakura tried to lift her arms and take a step forwards but found her body struggling to move as if she had…_

_ "Weights." Sakura gasped at the prospect, knowing that the last person she saw using these was Lee. _

_ "Exactly. Before you leave, we will teach you how to put more weight on but the amount is of no concern. We will add more once you are accustomed with the amount. That should be about once every 3-5 days. Temari's instructions are that you should walk around town and get accustomed to the weight and meet her here tomorrow for an intense training session." Sakura knew the true meaning behind Gaara's words. _

_ 'A.K.A, get some sleep tonight because tomorrow is going to be hell.'_

"_Arigato Gaara-sama." Sakura turned to leave but suddenly sand enveloped her arm. Feeling threatened, Sakura forced chakra into her body, making the weight of the bands nullified and pivoted and tried to punch Gaara. Her fist was quickly stopped by a wall of sand and Sakura gasped in surprise._

_ "Gaara-sama! I apologize profusely! I felt threatened by being grabbed as such and reacted on instinct alone! Please accept my apologies!" Sakura bowed from her waist in deep respect, not wanting to meet the gaze of the Kazekage. _

_ "Sakura-san. No need to apologize. I should have used my words to stop you. You have not injured me so I am not concern." Gaara waited for the young woman before him to raise herself from her bow but she waited and stayed still. "Sakura-san, please arise from that position. You should not bow to me. We are friends." Gaara's lips turned up at the shocked face of the kounichi. He had been watching her for the past month and a half, remembering her from when the Sand siblings went to Konoha for the chunnin exams. She was annoying and perky, two qualities that Gaara detested. But, now as a full grown woman, Sakura had matured and was more bearable. When Gaara looked at her, he could feel a strange sensation overcome his body and his fingers went numb but he refused to dwell of the sensations. Although, no matter how many times he ignored those particular sensations, he could not help stealing glances at the pink haired woman every so often. He remembered Temari being frustrated by the one day mission her gave her and volunteered almost immediately to step in. Temari looked at him questioningly but did not comment on the strange behavior, only thanked him for his kind gesture. _

_ Sakura rose from her bow and stared straight into the blue eyes of the man before her and found a light blush come to her cheeks and butterflies form in her stomach. Her eyes widened at the sensation and realized that she was attracted to the man before her. Being a virgin and a full grown woman, her hormones were going haywire but she refused to sleep around for the sake of not being a virgin anymore. _

_ "Sakura-san, I have a request for you to join me for tea in my office right now." Gaara shifted his left foot very slightly. That movement would not have registered to too many people but Sakura knew that he was uncomfortable and new to making these kinds of requests to a woman._

_ "I would love to Gaara-sama. As long as you don't mind slowing down for me." Sakura smiled at Gaara who quickly looked away._

_ "As long as you stop calling me Gaara-sama and call me Gaara."_

_ "Then I ask you call me Sakura." And with that, they departed towards the Kazekage's office, side by side and their hands brushed together with every other step._

Sakura laughed at the memory and strapped on her twin kodachis and her kunai holster before running sprints and stretching. Within ten minutes of warm up, which consisted of stretching her muscles and her chakra veins, Sakura started practicing taijutsu which was her weakness as she waited for the arrival of her teammates.

When Sasuke and Naruto arrived, they had been running there to warm up and stretched for about ten minutes before joining Sakura in her taijutsu exercises. Sakura taught them various positions before she called for a stop around 5:50.

"Hey guys!" Sakura gave Naruto a sweaty hug which he returned and Sasuke a slight nod which he also returned. "So I invited Kakashi but he won't be here till 6-ish with Genma. You guys want to do a three way spar? No teams?" Naruto and Sasuke nodded and they all did their ceremonial gesture where they put their fists into the middle and then on the count of three they all jumped back and the spar started.

"1" Sakura started.

"2" Sasuke said next.

"3!" Naruto finished and so the fight started. Sakura jumped back into the bushes, deciding to play this a little defensively to see the progress Sasuke and Naruto had made in the last year. Naruto made clones and sent them towards Sasuke who pulled out Kusanagi and quickly rid the field of the nuisance. Sakura was impressed by his swordsmanship, each stroke looking flawless as the next. Sasuke charged his sword with Chidori and ran towards where Naruto was hiding. Naruto jumped over Sasuke once he was close enough and form Rasengan by himself in the middle of the air. Sakura remembered that eleven months ago, he needed help forming a small Rasengan on his own. Sakura unsheathed her kodachis and charged forward, zig sagging on her approach. Naruto and Sasuke were so preoccupied that they never noticed Sakura until she was literally in between them and spun her blades around aand as she twirled in a circle, she extended the chakra in her blades to about ten feet. If it weren't for their quick reflexes, the gashes on the chest of these two men would have been near fatal and would have ended the session right there.

"Holy shit Sakura!" Sasuke yelled as he did three back flips to keep his distance.

"If you two weren't so occupied with each other you would have noticed me!" Sakura sheathed her kodachis and slammed both her fists into the ground, sending cracks towards Naruto and Sasuke quickly before exploding the ground, creating massive crevasse in the earth. Sasuke stabbed his sword into the side and jumped out and Naruto grabbed onto the edge before hauling himself back to earth. Both were slightly shocked at their teammate but smirked and nodded to each other.

"You said no teams Sakura but you just put a target on your back." Sasuke lite up his sword with Kusanagi and Naruto formed Rasengan again. They both charged at Sakura and she pulled out her kodachi again. Getting into her kenjutsu stance, she waited till Naruto and Sasuke got close enough before she bent backwards and rolled to avoid the clash. Naruto and Sasuke nodded and Sasuke formed a cup with his hands and Naruto put his foot there and used Sasuke as leverage to launch him at Sakura before she could recover. Sakura's eye widened at the maneuver but leap to the side but was grazed by Naruto's Rasengan.

"Fuck." Sakura felt the blood rush down her arm and felt her body grow heavy from the one blow. '_I wish I could take off these weights.'_ Sakura knew the boys wouldn't be able to catch her if she had no weights on but refused to take them off during sparring practices. Sakura sent a little chakra to her shoulder. The chakra was there to prevent infection but not heal. Even though that was an advantage, she wanted to compete with them on fair terms. Sasuke, while Naruto recovered, charged at Sakura with his Kusanagi in hand. He went to strike but Sakura crossed her kodachi in an X shape to stop the blow. They struggled there for a second before Sakura felt Naruto charging and threw Sasuke to the side, trapping Kusanagi and throwing it behind her as she flipped Sasuke into Naruto. Sasuke and Naruto landed in a heap but quickly righted themselves. None of the three noticed the company they seemed to acquire only five minutes into the fight and watched as Sakura charge the two boys. Sakura threw four kunai at Naruto by holding her two swords in one hand and nicked his cheek. Sakura put her kodachi back in her right hand and sheathed the two swords before charging her fists with chakra. Sasuke easily dodged the punch but Naruto wasn't as lucky and went flying almost thirty feet before a tree stopped him in his tracks. Sakura realized Naruto was unconscious so she turned her attention towards Sasuke. She charged at the young Uchiha and decided to switch to taijutsu. Although this was her weakness, it would make Sasuke's sharingan virtually useless. Sasuke's eyes widened because he knew taijutsu was her weakness. Sakura got close enough to throw a punch that Sasuke dodge. He threw his shoulder into her stomach and tackled her to the ground. Sakura gasped as she had the wind knocked out of her but quickly recovered, flipping their positions so when they landed Sakura was on top with a kunai at Sasuke's throat.

"I give." Sasuke knew he was defeated and Sakura smiled triumphantly as she got up and offered her hand. Sasuke grabbed it and was hauled onto his feet before going to grab Naruto. As he walked away he mentioned something about Naruto being a dobe for getting knocked out. Sakura threw her fist in the air as she celebrated her first victory over Sasuke and Naruto. She spun around when she heard two distinct pairs of hands clapping together. She turned to see Kakashi and Genma applauding her achievement but her gaze fell upon Itachi who was standing behind the two shinobi. He simply nodded to Sakura who blushed under his gaze but nodded back. He walked forward with Kakashi and Genma until they reached Sakura.

"Holy shit Sakura! Remind me to never piss you off." Genma laughed as he clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"I would agree with that statement Genma-san." Itachi commented and Kakashi nodded in approval and allowed his gaze to remain on Sakura's face. Remembering that morning, Sakura looked away quickly towards Sasuke, who was carrying Naruto, and refused to look back at her ex-sensei. Itachi noticed the strange behavior and narrowed his eyes a little, confused by the exchange between friends. Sakura walked over to Sasuke and placed her temples on Naruto, waking him up from his unconscious state. Sasuke placed him on his feet but held firm because Naruto was still a little wobbly. Sakura proceeded to heal his cheek as well and put chakra stitches on her gash but refused to heal it.

"Sakura, why don't you heal your wounds?" Kakashi asked, a tint of worry encompassing his voice.

"Because I want to remember the scars I get so I can remember each one and what I could have done to avoid getting it." Sakura looked directly into Itachi's eyes, somehow knowing that he felt the same way she did.

"Wow, that's intense. That really hurt though Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined as he rubbed his temples to rid him of his headache.

"You need to watch your left side Naruto. You leave it open after every one of your attacks." Sakura 'tsk'd' at Naruto and chuckled at his pout. "How about we go out for ramen for dinner?" Naruto smiled at the mention of ramen and practically dragged Sasuke and Sakura to Ichiraku. Sakura halted Naruto and Sasuke and turned to the other three. "Would you all like to join us? I'll pay for you three." Sakura smiled at the men. Kakashi and Genma nodded but Itachi remained still. Sakura looked at him questioningly, looking for an answer.

"I apologize for refusing but I must depart for an Uchiha meeting." Itachi departed in a puff of smoke leaving Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi and Genma to go to Ichiraku.

Sakura stood outside Ichiraku in awe and amazement. The restaurant that was once a bar stand had become a full fledge restaurant with tables and everything. Naruto explained to her that on weekends, there was a waiting list to eat here. Sakura eventually followed the boys into the restaurant after they all laughed at her antics. Sakura sat between Sasuke and Naruto at the round table with Kakashi directly across from her. After everyone but her was done ordering, she turned to Ayame and ordered a beef ramen with a bottle of sake. Ayame was hesitant but nodded, knowing that no one turned down jounin or ANBU who wanted a drink. Sakura folded her menu and saw all the men staring at her.

"What? I acquired a taste for it in Suna. Gaara and I would sit in his office discussing how my mission was going. Normally we would drink tea but one day he offered sake and I eventually came to enjoy warm sake with dinner." Sakura didn't know why she felt the need to explain herself but was glad she did because everyone seemed okay with it. When Ayame came with the food, Genma ordered two bottles for everyone at the table, reassuring Sakura that he would pay for the expensive alcohol. Sakura seemed relieved and started to drink her own sake while everyone ate. She poured the warm liquid into the ceramic glass and tilted her head back, relishing in the feeling of the warm liquid gliding down her throat. It stopped burning to drink the alcohol a few months after she started drinking it regularly with Gaara. Sakura poured another shot but this time hesitated, looking at the liquid with mixed feelings.

_ 'Sake was the reason Gaara and I started dating really.'_ Sakura couldn't help but think back to the night that she and Gaara and drank a little too much. They had started hanging out regularly, both developing feelings for the other but not willing to take the step of saying something. But one night is when everything changed between the two shinobi.

_Sakura had just stepped into Gaara's office for their nightly review of the day's events at the hospital. Gaara already had the warm sake out and poured for Sakura. She immediately started drinking glass after glass while describing her difficulties with teaching the Suna shinobi. Gaara matched her drink for drink, both not realizing the numbness in their fingers or the fact that their hearts started racing when they looked at each other or when they accidentally brushed finger tips when Gaara passed her a drink._

_ "It's so frustrating! Even after four months of being here they are still uncomfortable with the fact I am an outsider! I don't want to leave here without an absolute confidence that they can take care of themselves and the shinobi of this village." Sakura continued to vent her frustrations out on Gaara not realizing he had put his cup down. She took down the glass of sake in her hands. When she brought her head level, she hadn't even noticed Gaara move closer. The next thing she remembered was his fingers running through her head and pulling her towards him bringing her lips to meet his. Sakura was stunned at first, her lips numb from the sake but responded with force as she released months of pent up sexual aggression towards Gaara. Sakura pushed the table between them aside as she straddled Gaara and brought her hands up the nape of his neck. Sakura felt Gaara, unsure of his actions; slide his tongue across her bottom one, asking for entrance. Sakura opened her mouth and felt Gaara's tongue massage hers. Sakura let out a moan that she was holding in and arched her lower half into Gaara's, eliciting a soft growl from the normally stoic man. Sakura could feel Gaara harden by her actions and immediately grew nervous and unsure. She pulled away from Gaara and rested her forehead on his shoulder. Both of them were panting and a silence overtook the room because neither of them knew what to say or do. Gaara, testing the waters, slid his hands under Sakura's tank top, pulling it up over her head and left her in only her bra. Sakura sat up so he could pull the tank top over her head, forcing her to come face to face with the man before her. _

_ "Gaara…" Sakura whispered before leaning forward and capturing his lips again in a searing kiss. Sakura didn't know if it was the liquid courage she had earlier or her own feelings for Gaara but something drove her past the point of wanting to be just friends with him. Gaara pulled away flipped them over so he was settled between her legs and started to kiss down her neck. "Gaara… I have never done anything like this." Sakura gasped as Gaara bit a little hard right above her left breast. Gaara looked up at Sakura and placed his mouth right next to Sakura's ear._

_ "I promise I'll be gentle." _

"Sakura!" Naruto shook her shoulder, forcing her to drop the cup onto the table and shatter into tiny pieces. Sakura gasped and realized where she was and what she was just dreaming about. She looked at the little pieces of glass and apologized profusely to Ayame who brought over another glass.

"You alright Sakura? You spaced out for a good few minutes." Sasuke couldn't help but feel a small amount of concern for his teammate.

"I am fine. Just remembering something from Suna." Sakura smiled but that immediately faded when Kakashi finally spoke up.

"Remembering something about _Gaara_?" Kakashi said that name with distaste as he took another swig of sake straight from the bottle. Sakura paled, knowing that Kakashi had figured it out somehow. Her first thought was that the stupid genius, Shikamaru, had told on her.

"What does he mean Sakura-chan?" Naruto sent a questioning glance to Sakura who looked down at her hands. Sakura looked at Sasuke and Genma and realized they figured it out too.

"Well, guess I can't keep it a secret. When I was at Suna, Gaara and I were in a relationship for about seven months before I broke it off when I got the news I was returning to Konoha." Sakura waited, expecting outrage that she dated the Kazekage but Naruto just smiled.

"Well, at least you finally got laid!" Sakura turned bright red at the comment that came from Genma but everyone, except for Kakashi, roared with laughter and took a celebratory swig of sake.

"I expected you all to be mad. That's why I didn't say anything. Promise you guys won't mention it? Gaara and I were good about keeping it secret in Suna and the last thing I want is people thinking poorly of me." Everyone agreed to keeping it a secret and Genma ordered more sake.

By the time everyone was done drinking, each had four to five empty bottles of sake in front of them. Genma, as promised, paid for the sake and Sakura paid for the meals. They all parted ways except for Kakashi and Sakura who had to go in the same direction to reach their apartments. They walked in silence, a common occurrence for Sakura nowadays. Sakura kept her gaze upwards, looking at the stars that were shining brightly above her. Suddenly she saw a shooting star and made a silent wish for her own happiness.

'_That's selfish._' Sakura didn't care at the moment though. She was a nineteen year old kounichi with no man in her life and no prospect for the future except for her eventual death by the hands of another shinobi. It was a grim future but Sakura came to terms with the fact that it was the end that most shinobi face. Sakura looked at Kakashi, studying the contours of his face and the creases around his eyes from smiling. She kept staring, even after Kakashi looked down at her and kept his gaze on her instead of the world around them. Sakura should have felt awkward about looking at her teacher like this and should have felt uncomfortable with him looking at her but found that she did not care.

'_Life is too short, right?_' Kakashi tore his gaze away from Sakura and gave a small chuckle.

"What is funny?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, wanting to be let in on the joke.

"We passed by my apartment a few minutes ago." Sakura allowed for color to come to her cheeks at the implication behind Kakashi's statement. "Listen Sakura, I don't know what is going on but it can't happen. I am sorry for leading you on but I guess after not seeing you for eleven months I was shocked at the woman you have become." Kakashi looked down in shame as he explained himself. Sakura could feel her heart break in half at Kakashi's words, angry for allowing these feelings toward her ex-sensei.

"Whatever Kakashi. That is fine by me. Run away, you are good at that. Don't speak to me till I speak to you." Sakura sprinted away, Kakashi's voice echoing in the darkness. Sakura allowed only a few tears to shed before composing herself and hardening her face. She refused to allow her emotions to take over. Sakura thought about all the men in her life and most had disappointed her at some point. Sasuke left, Naruto left to find him, after she broke up with Gaara she had wanted him to ask her to stay with him but he just let her go like she meant nothing to him and then now there was Kakashi.

'_This is why I don't need men in my life. I just need to be able to defend myself and survive._' Sakura didn't want to go home, the alcohol still coursing through her veins so she went to the park. It was about midnight and the whole village seemed to be asleep. She walked over to a bench and sat down; the sakura petals fell from the branches and landed at her feet. The tears started flowing down her face as she thought back to the one man that was consistent in her life, up until his death.

'_Dad…_ _I miss you so much. Why did you have to leave me?_' Sakura allowed, for the first time since their death, the tear to freely flow from her eyes, down her cheeks and onto her clothes. For almost five minutes, Sakura sat on the bench and cried her eyes out for the loss of her parents and the loneliness she felt. An overwhelming desire to run from her problems consumed Sakura's thoughts until she thought about the good things in this village.

'_Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Tsunade-shishou, Shikamaru…_' Suddenly the image of a long-haired Uchiha flashed in her mind. '_And Itachi?_' The idea seemed preposterous at first to Sakura but the longer she thought about it, the more it made sense. '_I mean, he is willing to take his time and train me for free. He sees potential in me that no one else truly does except for maybe Temari._' Sakura stood up and stretched, feeling better than she did before. '_Forget Kakashi and Gaara. I am strong. I will stand without them and Itachi will help me stand on my own with even more force._' Sakura smiled and walked back to her apartment, ready to tackle the world in the next few months of training before the ANBU exams in December.

_'I have about seven months to train._' Sakura walked with her head held high and a new confidence in her step. '_Watch over me mom and dad and help me find the right path to take._' And with that, Sakura went back to her apartment, changed and promptly fell asleep, her thoughts, for the first time, thinking about her future.

End Chapter.

I want most of my chapters to be this long so that means the story will be shorter and the update period longer.

First chapter down, more to come!


	2. The Incident

**Chapter 2 is here!**

Sakura woke the next morning around ten thirty and started readying herself for the rest of the day. She took a quick shower before getting dressed in a red tank top, black shorts, black shinobi shoes and a white hoodie that matched the one she wore yesterday. Sakura decided to tie her hair in a high pony tail again for her sparring match with Itachi later. She made herself a nice healthy breakfast that consisted of eggs, fruit and a little bit of fried ham. She finished it off with a cup of hot coffee, two sugars and a dash of cream. After about an hour of reading the newspaper and eating her breakfast, Sakura went to her room, strapped on her kodachis, kunai holster and her weights and left her apartment towards the bar to meet Ino.

Sakura thought back to her longtime friend and laughed at the irony of their friendship. For the longest time, Sakura and Ino fought over Sasuke like he was a piece of meat. Sakura had herself convinced that she loved the stoic Uchiha but now thinking back, Sakura deeply cared for Sasuke as a brother and was hurt when he ran away from Konoha. Sakura almost tripped as she thought back to the day when everyone realized the young Uchiha had run away. Sasuke left a note for Sakura explaining his reasons. The note was brief so Sakura had been able to memorize every detail.

_Sakura,_

_I can't stay in this village. My family is suffocating me and I had to leave. Tell Tsunade I __**might**__ be back to the village if my family stops pressuring me._

_Sasuke_

It was short and simple but it spoke volumes. Sakura immediately called for a meeting with the Head of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku Uchiha or Sasuke's father. She read the letter to him and the Uchiha council and promptly left them with their thoughts. She cried for days after Sasuke had left because it felt like a piece of her heart was missing. She had grown up with Sasuke and Naruto and they were like the protective older brothers she never had. After two years, Sasuke was seventeen and still had not returned so Naruto left, without Sakura, to find him and bring him back. Sakura stayed in bed for days after that point, in disbelief that Naruto would not even ask her to come find him. Sasuke was as much a part of her life as he was in Naruto's. Having both Sasuke and Naruto leave left Sakura broken and the only person there to truly help pick up the pieces was Ino.

Ino had long gotten over the Sasuke crush and started exploring the world of men very freely. She never stayed with one guy too long but wasn't known as a whore; that was Ame. Ino stayed in Sakura's apartment for over a week after Naruto left and never left her side till Sakura was better. After that week, Ino and Sakura had become even tighter than before their rivalry over Sasuke. Ino had started training as a medic-nin under Sakura and helping out at the flower shop more and Sakura started training harder and harder every day. She trained to the point where she would sleep out on the training grounds because she couldn't move.

Sakura wanted to be stronger than Naruto and Sasuke when they returned but six months after Naruto left, he came back with Sasuke in tow and she was no closer to being stronger. Sakura welcomed the two back with open arms and refused to allow the two boys to see how upset she was by their departure. Her relationship with them had become strained after that point and was never truly repaired because only months later, Sakura was shipped off to Suna for over a year.

Sakura shook her head, trying to rid herself of the saddening thoughts that overwhelmed her on this hot summer day. The sun was directly beating down on her and Sakura could feel her skin becoming tan from only minutes out in the sun. Eventually, Sakura found herself in the back of the bar at a booth with a cup of sake, waiting for Ino to arrive. As she sipped the warm drink, Sakura thought about the things she would and wouldn't tell Ino. Even though Ino was the biggest gossip, Sakura trusted her to keep a secret, even though she knew Ino was going to push Sakura to have a massive sleep over with her, Hinata and Tenten. Suddenly, Sakura heard the squealing of Ino and was immediately hugged from the side, almost spilling her sake.

"Forehead! I missed you so much!"

"Missed you too pig." Sakura called over the bartender and asked for a second bottle and another cup for her friend. Ino sat across from Sakura and graciously took the drink from the young waitress.

"So, tell me about this mission! I want to know everything!" And so, with that, Sakura told Ino about her eleven months. Ino pretty much let Sakura recount those months and only had outbursts at the mention of Gaara, which was promptly followed by a "_you go girl!_" and the break up, "_You fucking moron!_" When Sakura got to the part about Kakashi, Ino had to interrupt her.

"Wait, wait, wait. Your ex-sensei put the moves on you and then shot you down? That fucker! You should totally kick his ass! Next time he asks for flowers I won't give them to him. Asshole." Ino took a quick gulp of her sake before letting Sakura continue.

"Yeah, I agree it was an asshole-ish thing to do but honestly, it was for the best. That relationship was doomed." Sakura looked at the clock and saw it read one thirty and gasped. "I have to go Ino! I am meeting Itachi for a sparring match."

"Why didn't you tell me you were meeting the definition of hotness! We must have a sleep over one weekend with all the girls! Next Saturday night, my house, come whenever. Got it forehead?"

"Yeah, yeah." Sakura threw some money down on the table to cover both drinks before dashing out the door, pushing chakra into her feet to sprint even faster.

'_I hope I haven't kept Itachi waiting. That would be a terrible way to start off this… thing._' Sakura didn't really know what to call these training sessions and hoped she wouldn't have to call him Itachi-sensei or something. Sakura had training ground three in sight and felt a chill come over her when she saw Itachi sitting against a tree, looking a little cross at the idea of being ditched after voluntarily offering his time. '_Just apologize profusely and promise it won't happen again._'

"Itachi-"

"I don't want excuses. I trust you brought everything." Itachi stood up, bracing one arm against the tree for added support. Sakura noticed this action with slight confusion but refused to comment on the personal affairs of an Uchiha. Sakura nodded her head and waited patiently for her next instructions.

"Today I will test you in; taijutsu, genjutsu and kenjutsu. I will add weight to your bands at the end of the session today. I will use my sharingan and come after me as if you wanted to kill me or I will not help you." Sakura nodded, a little wary of the request Itachi just asked of her.

'_How can I go after a man like that who has never done anything to me?_' Sakura walked away from Itachi, putting about twenty yards between them, before dropping into her taijutsu stance. Knowing this was her weakness, Sakura already felt herself become uneasy at the prospect of fighting Itachi.

"Good. Taijutsu first. Now, come." Itachi's eyes bled to red as he dropped himself into a flawless stance, one that Sakura was deeply jealous of. Trying to mimic his stance, her concentration was interrupted. "Don't try to mimic me. This is to see your abilities, not mine. We will work on your flaw in later sessions." Sakura nodded, standing up and dropping back down. She concentrated for a second before running towards Itachi, but not with the intent to kill.

Itachi easily dodged her punch, pushing her fist to the side and sidestepping around her. Sakura cursed and used her right leg to stop her forward momentum and pivoted, using the same fist to hit Itachi again. Itachi grabbed Sakura's fist in his hand and suddenly Sakura was flying thirty feet to her right after receiving a harsh kick to her ribcage. Sakura gasped as her right side hit the tree, cracking the bark. Momentarily stunned, Sakura used the tree for support as she attempted to stand on her two feet.

"Fuck." Sakura started to heal her wounds but Itachi grabbed both her hands and twisted them behind her back. Sakura arched her back, thrusting her hips forward, trying to relieve the pain in her shoulders.

"Taijutsu means no chakra, under no circumstances until I give you permission." Itachi's voice rang through Sakura's ears but the comment sparked an anger in Sakura she never knew she had. Leaning forward, she created a tiny bit of space and pulled her legs behind her, almost ripping her shoulders out of her sockets and kicked backwards, forcing Itachi to release her. Giving him no time to recover, Sakura decided to do something she had never done since the day she got them. She removed her weights from her arms and legs. Itachi opened his mouth to protest but Sakura interrupted him.

"You said no chakra and these weights have chakra in them." Sakura smirked and disappeared from Itachi's sight briefly before he recaptured her image. She was moving too quickly though and before Itachi realized, a fist was flying toward his face. Itachi sidestepped but was caught off guard by the high-kick sent to his head. He ducked under her foot, grabbed it and tossed her body like a ragdoll across the field. Sakura, like a cat, righted herself before landing on the balls of her feet. Without hesitation, Sakura charged, determined to make Itachi eat his words. She didn't know why but being told that she couldn't do something without his permission fueled her anger towards the men in her life that controlled her feelings and then threw them aside. She saw Gaara, Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi flash in place of Itachi's face briefly and Sakura just wanted to wrap her hands around their throats. Sakura saw red as she charged Itachi, as if she was an angered bull whose temper could not be tamed. Sakura threw a fist at Itachi but he blocked it again.

"Sakura, do not become blind with rage, use that anger. Harvest it and allow your body to be fueled by the need." Itachi pushed Sakura away and watched as she took a moment to calm herself. Itachi watched as she closed her eyes, how her nostrils flared as she breathed in and her mouth open slightly as she breathed out. Her whole body seemed to calm down, her fists became unclenched and when she opened her eyes, he could see the anger still in her eyes but she had tamed that anger and harnessed it slightly. She still had a lot of work but Itachi was pleased with what he saw.

"Okay," Itachi stood up and stretched his own muscles, "that is it for taijutsu. Next I am going to trap you in multiple genjutsus. Each genjutsu will get harder and more vicious until you cannot break the genjutsu." Sakura nodded and stood across from Itachi, waiting for the genjutsu to start. The first five genjutsus were easy for Sakura to break, the fourth one taking her almost three minutes to finally break. Itachi was hesitant to move onto the next genjutsu, the one commonly used by enemy shinobi, which involved exposing the deepest fear in a person but decided he was going to push Sakura to her limits, even if it meant breaking her.

Itachi started the seals without Sakura noticing and placed her under the genjutsu. He allowed for it to take over her senses. He couldn't see what she was seeing but almost immediately, she started shaking uncontrollably and grabbed her hair with both her hands and dropped to her knees. Itachi heard Sakura whisper, "_no, don't leave me_," before she bent her head and started screaming in agony. Itachi immediately dispersed the genjutsu but Sakura's body was still shaking. Itachi didn't move to comfort the young kounichi.

'_She won't become stronger if I baby her. She needs to experience this._' Itachi waited only minutes for Sakura to calm down before calling out to her.

"Stand up." Itachi waited for Sakura to bring herself to her feet but after seconds of waited, Itachi started becoming impatient. He calmly walked over to the girl, grabbed her upper arm and hauled her to her feet. "Rule number one; when I give you an order, you follow it." Itachi left Sakura go and watched as she faltered but remained on her feet. Itachi threw her weights to her feet. "Put them back on." And like a robot, Sakura placed the weights back on and noticed her arms felt heavier than before, probably the result of taking the weights off. Sakura finally lifted her face to see Itachi's and there was almost a blank stare to her eyes. But, as soon as the sight was there, Sakura blinked rapidly and the fog was gone and she was focused again.

Itachi wordlessly drew his sword and Sakura mimicked, drawing out both kodachi and connected them at the hilt. Both blades faced outwards and Sakura grabbed the combined hilt and brought the sword, similar to a nodachi, around her back drawing her hand in front of her to remain a balance. Itachi raised his eyebrow slightly but got into his stance and waited. Sakura was itching to strike but knew that Itachi was dangerous with a sword. Flashbacks of the genjutsu crossed Sakura's vision, distracting her from the task at hand. Itachi took advantage and charged forward. Sakura immediately brought her sword in an upward swing, meeting Itachi's in the air, creating a spark between the two. Sakura pushed against his sword and jumped backwards, doing two flips before deciding she should separate her kodachi. The swords settled right away in her hands and she put one above her head and the other in front of her, allowing for an offensive and a defensive advantage over Itachi.

Itachi, now more cautious of Sakura, knew that with her kodachi like that, she had the upper hand but Itachi had the greater skill level. He decided that he was just going to test Sakura so he attacked her, not viciously but with enough force to make Sakura react with her instincts and not her brain. He was impressed by her reflexes but her stance was off so she lost her balance sometimes. He jabbed, slashed, and tried to cut Sakura but she was able to dodge almost every swing and only got cut once. He saw her shield the cut with chakra, preventing infection but as she promised, she refused to heal such a minor injury. Itachi continued to force her to bend and stretch in ways she had never before. Eventually Itachi told her to put her swords away and for the next hour or so they were going to full out spar. Sakura hadn't been able to land a hit on Itachi yet but partially knew she wouldn't until after her training with the stoic Uchiha.

So, for the next two and a half hours, longer than either shinobi expected, they brawled and battled till Sakura was out of chakra and was lying on the ground, covered in sweat and exhausted. Itachi had stripped himself of his shirt once Sakura gave up and lay back against the tree, relishing in the feeling of the cold wind colliding with the sweat on his skin. Itachi took the moment to study the kounichi who had promptly fallen asleep. By all accounts, Itachi knew that Sakura should have made a terrible kounichi. Physically, she had pink hair, small body frame and vulnerable eyes that showed her emotions easily. All of those are disadvantages combined with her tendency to be emotional about situations should have forced her to become a civilian rather than a shinobi. '_But,_' Itachi thought, '_she has the unique quality that cannot be taught; potential._' And Itachi knew that Sakura had a lot of growing room. Itachi allowed his lips to curve upwards into a smirk, knowing that Sakura had no idea of his plans for her.

Sakura had no idea that Itachi was the captain that requested Sakura to join his ANBU team, which was currently on hiatus because Hana was severely injured. Itachi wanted to tell Sakura but knew that he had to keep it a secret until she was ready to hear the truth behind this training. He needed her to keep this professional and not see this as him doing her a favor.

'_Although, I am not making her pay so it probably already looks like a favor_.' Itachi cursed himself slightly for the mistake but quickly shook the thought, knowing that if he didn't offer this for free, Sakura wouldn't be able to have these lessons. Itachi got up and walked over to Sakura, not realizing his shirt was still off and kicked her side lightly, awaking her from her dream.

"Wha?" Sakura rubbed her eyes and looked up to see a shirtless Itachi. Sakura gasped in awe but not at the bare Uchiha but at the bright red and obviously infected gash that went from his right shoulder to his left hip. "Oh," Sakura had tears come to her eyes, "Itachi…" Sakura quickly stood up and immediately started healing the wound. Itachi grabbed her hands, stopping the flow of chakra.

"Stop."

"It is infected you idiot! Let me heal you." Sakura struggled to break free and pounded her fists against Itachi. "Stop being such an Uchiha and put your pride aside and let me heal you!" Itachi kept squeezing Sakura's wrist and knew he would leave bruises but Sakura kept her eyes on his and refused to back down. Finally, Itachi released Sakura's wrists and allowed for her to heal him. Sakura gathered the little remaining chakra she had and started healing the wound. Although she could not heal him fully, Sakura was able to rid the wound of the infection and close up the deepest part so it was a light scratch and slightly pink. Sakura stood back and smiled at her work. "Well, I guess I will head back to my apartment. Thank you Itachi."

Sakura knew that she had used up too much because she could feel her knees shaking together, almost collapsing under her weight and could feel her body become sweaty and cold. She looked down at her hands and saw them shaking uncontrollably. Sakura knew she was going through the A-typical signs of chakra depletion but refuse to show weakness. Sakura started, slowly and carefully, walking towards her apartment but didn't make it five steps before she saw spots in her vision and blacked out from exhaustion. Itachi could tell that she was going to pass out from healing him, which is why he didn't want her to but refused to aid the foolish kounichi. He wanted to let her learn her lesson by leaving her there but decided to bring her to the Uchiha compound and allow his mother to deal with her because if his mother heard that he left her there, he would never hear the end of it. So, Itachi threw Sakura over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, not really caring that her ribs were going to be bruised tomorrow.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Itachi mumbled the words his father so often told him growing up. Itachi jumped from roof to roof, hoping to avoid the gaze of civilians and shinobi to avoid the vicious rumors that always started in this village under false pretenses. Itachi couldn't help but allow his thoughts to wander briefly to the kounichi that was currently unconscious. He knew she had a lot to learn but had some sort of _faith_ in the young woman. He knew that she was the best candidate to fill the medic spot he wanted on his team. Shizune couldn't do it because she was Tsunade's assistant and there was no other medic-nin that came close to the skill Sakura had, whom surpassed the Sannin a year ago before her mission to Suna.

The idea of having a medic on his team didn't occur to him until Inuzuka Hana had become injured during a mission. Tsunade said that if she was attended to right away, she would have been fine and wouldn't need weeks of stay in the hospital. But, because they had to travel, the injury became extremely infected and started eating away at her muscles. The medics tried to repair as much as possible but now Hana has to heal on her own and she had to go through physical therapy, which could take a month alone.

Tsunade told Itachi that he could have a different teammate because he was not making money by not going on missions but Itachi said that his team, unless one died, was to remain the same. They knew each other better than their family and could predict each other's movements and Itachi did not want to disturb that flow and understanding. Tsunade questioned his decision to bring Sakura in but Itachi defended his position saying that she would be there as a medic to heal afterwards and maybe to fight the weaker opponents. Itachi had yet to tell the rest of his team that he wanted to bring Sakura in because if she did not pass the ANBU exams, then it became a null point.

Itachi snapped out of his thought process when he saw the Uchiha compound in the horizon. Itachi knew that Sakura's apartment was on the way but when she awoke, she needed to be fed and he knew she would recover slowly on her own and that would prove troublesome if Itachi wanted to spar with Sakura tomorrow night.

Itachi entered the Uchiha compound but remained on the roof tops until he reached his parent's home, in the middle of the compound. He entered around back, and called out to his mother.

"Okaa-san." Itachi waited and his mother appeared around the corner in an apron and a dish towel, drying her hands. Obviously he had interrupted his mother washing the dishes.

"Yes Itachi?" And then Mitoko noticed Sakura over Itachi's shoulder. "Is that," Mitoko ran to Itachi and looked behind him and saw pink hair, "Sakura? Itachi! Do not carry her like that! I taught you better! And why is she unconscious? You didn't do anything unfavorable did you?" Mitoko put her hands on her hip and tapped her foot and was visibly upset by the treatment her son was giving Sakura.

Itachi pulled Sakura over his shoulder and held her bridal style but allowed for her head to roll back. Mitoko held Sakura's head and rested it on Itachi's shoulder. He stiffened at the feeling of Sakura's warm breath on his neck but refused to make a scene of it.

"Okaa-san. Sakura and I were sparring and she ran out of chakra. I brought her here because I knew that she needed to be taken care of so she recovered faster. I need her ready to spar tomorrow." Itachi stared straight into his mother's eyes and refused to allow his mother to know that he was not telling the whole truth but obviously his mother knew him better than he thought.

"I know something else occurred because Sakura is a smart kounichi and would have stopped sparring with enough chakra to get her back home but I won't pry into your life Itachi. Put her in your old room for now. I will look in on her periodically so no worries, you will be able to leave and go back to your apartment." Mitoko turned back to the kitchen and opened the fridge trying to decide what she was going to make Sakura and Itachi went upstairs. When Itachi got to his door, it was already opened. His mother obviously cleaned his room regularly, maybe in hopes that he would return home where he "belonged" as his mother would say. Itachi placed Sakura on the bed but didn't put her under the covers because of the heat. Itachi allowed his eyes to wander of the unconscious woman currently lying on his bed and knew his mind was making him imagine a suggestive undertone to the scene. This line of thought forced him to quickly depart from the room and flee downstairs.

"Mother, I am leaving." Itachi didn't wait for a response as he left the Uchiha compound to return to his apartment for a long night of no sleep awaiting him.

Sakura didn't awake from her unconscious state until the next morning at around seven o'clock in the morning. Awakening from a chakra depletion induced unconscious state is disorienting but when you awake in a room that is not your own and in a house that you do not recognize immediately, one tends to panic. Sakura immediately jumped off the bed and started assessing the situation. It wasn't until she noticed the Uchiha family picture that consisted of Itachi, Sasuke, Fugaku and Mitoko and realized that she had all her weapons still that she realized that she was in Itachi's room in their house.

'_Itachi must have brought me here…'_ Sakura tried to move her mouth but realized that her cheek was severely bruised. '_I healed that punch yesterday before I passed out… That bastard! He let me fall to the ground after I healed him!' _Sakura's cheeks flushed in anger but realized that he could have left her out in the training grounds with no protection. '_Still doesn't mean I have to thank him._' Sakura thought stubbornly. Deciding to leave the walls of Itachi's old room, Sakura ventured out into the house that had become familiar to Sakura over the years from team dinners. Sakura walked towards the stair case and noticed that _these_ floor boards didn't creak.

_'No surprise there. The stairs don't creak either._' Sakura could help but mumble incoherent curses about cheap landlords. Suddenly, the sweat aroma of different foods over whelmed Sakura's sense of smell and drew her directly to the kitchen, where Mitoko was busily working on a wonderful breakfast for the occupants of the house.

"Um, excuse me Mitoko…" Sakura's voice creaked out, her voice dry from lack of water. Mitoko jumped and dropped a pot she was cleaning when she turned to Sakura, her right hand over her heart as if trying to keep it from falling out of her chest.

"Oh, Sakura. You scared me! Sit down and I will explain everything." Mitoko grabbed a plate and served Sakura some food before grabbing some of her own. Before sitting down to eat, Mitoko went to the bottom of the stairs.

"Sasuke! Naruto! Breakfast!" Sakura raised her eyebrow at Mitoko, voicing the obvious question as to why those two were at her house instead of their apartments.

"Sasuke and Naruto used our backyard to spar after dinner. They were too tired to leave so ended up staying here the night." Sakura nodded in understanding and started eating, waiting for Mitoko to explain the events of last night while she was unconscious.

"Well, I know Itachi lied about why you had chakra depletion but that is not important. What is important is that he brought you here so you could heal faster because he is going to pick you up for training in a few hours and knew if you were alone, you wouldn't be ready on time." Sakura was silent, questioning Itachi lying to his mother.

'_Why wouldn't he tell his mom about the wound? Maybe I should ask him…_' Sakura had a gut feeling that was not a good idea but refused to back down. She wanted an answer whether he liked it or not. If his family was abusing him like that he should be dealing with it. It was not the correct way to treat a human being who was, as far as Sakura knew, innocent.

"Did he tell you what time he was going to come pick me up?"

"He told me he was going to come get you around ten o'clock because he needed to talk to you about something." Sakura gulped unconsciously, obvious disturbed by the idea of him confronting her about telling someone about the wound. Obviously if he lied to his own mother, he wanted no one but him and the person that gave him that wound to know it existed. Sakura looked to the clock and saw that it read 8:30. Sakura decided to go close her eyes and nap until Itachi arrived. Sakura started to walk back upstairs but became distracted at all the photos that she did not even realize that Sasuke was behind her as Naruto went to go get food.

"Sakura." Sasuke deep voice forced a gasp out of Sakura and she almost collided with him when she spun around.

"Sasuke, you scared me." Sasuke gave out a small chuckle but quickly composed himself.

"Sakura, what does my brother want with you?" Sakura tilted her head slightly and furrowed her eyebrows in immense confusion.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I asked him to train me and he accepted."

"For free?" Sakura's cheeks became red with anger and she stomped her foot. So angry at Sasuke for mentioning her financial status (indirectly) Sakura pointed a finger in his face and got close.

"Listen here Sasuke, just because your brother is being nice and training me for free because I cannot afford him doesn't mean this gives you an opportunity to wave your financial superiority in my face."

"Sakura," Sasuke leaned forward and put his mouth right next to Sakura's ear and smirked when she stiffened from the unexpected contact, "Uchiha's do nothing for free unless we have an ulterior motive. Think about it." Sasuke walked to the kitchen before Sakura could respond. Sakura, instead of sleeping, decided to go outside and mediate to think about what Sasuke had said.

Walking into the garden Uchiha Mitoko in the late of spring/early summer was a unique experience only those close to the family would see and Sakura was thankful for the opportunity. Sakura decided to sit beneath the one willow tree which would hide her from the outside world. Sakura sat at the base and leaned backwards, feeling the bark through her clothes. Crossing her legs, closing her eyes, Sakura centered her mind on one person; Itachi.

'_Sasuke is right, why is he teaching me? I have nothing to offer him. And what was with that gash? And why isn't he out on missions? Why won't he let me pay him? So many questions and so little answers._' Sakura allowed for her breathing to slow down and let her thoughts of Itachi consume her thoughts. Sakura could feel her chakra returning to her body even faster through the meditation. Almost two hours went by before Itachi made his appearance.

Itachi walked to his room and noticed Sakura was not there but her scent flooded his senses as soon as he walked in. Turning quickly from the smell, Itachi walked downstairs and went to question his mother who gave him false information about the location of his student. Itachi was about to ask his mother where Sakura was when he noticed a slight fluctuation in her chakra outside in the garden.

Itachi walked outside and had to search for Sakura's chakra signature because he could not see her behind the willow branches. Itachi finally located her and pushed aside branches with the back of his hand before stepping into the curtain that shielded the young woman. Itachi took the moment to study her disheveled appearance; her clothes were wrinkled, her hair was undone from its braid and she had sheet creases etched into her skin from sleeping so heavily.

Itachi had become annoyed at Sakura's inability to notice him, even in deep meditation because a shinobi must always be aware of their surroundings so, Itachi walked up to Sakura, flared his chakra and then sent a kick straight to her head. Sakura's eyes snapped open at the chakra flare and quickly put her hand out to stop the kick but Itachi was too strong and the follow through pushed Sakura right over, forcing her to roll to lessen the impact. When she righted herself, she was in a crouch position and charged at her intruder with a chakra laced fist. Sakura lunged but Itachi grabbed her hand and threw her over his shoulder. Sakura made a clone and used the clone to throw her, midair, back towards Itachi's back and withdrew her kodachis and went to strike Itachi from behind. Sakura came down and stab Itachi in his back but suddenly, with a 'poof,' Itachi was replaced with a log and Sakura's kodachis were stuck in the wood so Sakura was forced to drop her swords. Sakura turned around but before she could, Itachi had a kunai on her neck.

"I give." Sakura expected the kunai to drop from her neck but it stayed there. Sakura turned around and allowed the kunai to graze her neck. Sakura came face to face with Itachi, only inches from each other. Sakura allowed herself to study Itachi, not a single bead of sweat broken on his flawless, porcelain skin from the exchange between the two. Sakura took her time to study the lines under Itachi's eyes, the telltale signs of his insomnia. Sakura felt pity make her heart heavy as she wondered how many sleepless nights Itachi has had throughout the years.

"Sakura." Itachi backed away from Sakura and turned his back to her. "You may not tell anyone of the wound you healed yesterday." Sakura just stood there, knowing that he was going to make this request and up until this very moment, she knew her answer but when she opened her mouth to deliver her response, the exact opposite came out.

"I will, Itachi." Sakura has never seen Itachi so angry as he turned around; sharingan tomoe's spinning wildly with anger. "I will if you do not explain to me how you obtained that injury." For every step Itachi took a step forward, Sakura stepped backwards until her back was pressed up against a tree which only meant one thing; Itachi had Sakura pinned with no way out.

"You have no right to deny this request. Do not make the mistake of getting mixed up in my family's affairs, Sakura."

"You have no right to let me see a wound like that, seemingly getting it after a meeting with your family, and not explain yourself! If your family is treating you like that, they need to be punished! No clan is above Konoha law, not even yours!" At this point, Sakura did not care that the man in front of her could kill her in an instant because she could not allow for this to go on without someone knowing.

"This is none of your business Sakura. Stay out of it."

"I won't Itachi, no matter how much you want me to. There are too many unanswered questions. Why did you have that wound? And not only that but why are you training me? And for free? Sasuke told me that Uchiha's don't do anything for free without an ulterior motive and I demand you tell me the answer to these questions!" Before Sakura could blink, Itachi's hand was wrapped around her frail throat, effectively cutting off her oxygen supply. Sakura brought her hands up to Itachi's to try and pry his hand from her throat but Sakura could not access her chakra for some reason and her vision became blurry. Suddenly, Itachi was ripped away from Sakura and she fell to the ground in a heap, gasping for breath.

"What the hell Itachi! What do you think you are doing?" Sakura could hear Sasuke yell. Sakura weakly looked up into the eyes of Itachi but refused to be looked down upon. Shakily standing, refusing the aid of Naruto, Sakura stood using the tree for support. Naruto turned to Itachi, the red chakra of the nine-tails surrounding him.

"What is wrong with you Itachi?" But Itachi refused to answer Naruto and kept his gaze on Sakura.

Itachi started raising his chakra pressure, trying to make Sakura collapse from the combination of his chakra and her weakened state but when he saw she wouldn't, he spoke in a low but deadly voice which made Sakura clutch her clothes in fear.

"You are not in a position to demand such things kounichi. Don't forget your place. And I am finished training you and will put you on the black list for ANBU so you will **never **be able to apply again." Itachi deactivated his sharingan and walked away before disappearing from sight. Sakura stood there and allowed herself to drop to the ground once Itachi's chakra was out of her sensing ability. Sakura's eyes were wide but she refused to blink, even as the sweat went into the corner of her eye. The three stood there in silence. Sakura tried to speak but only a whisper came out when she realized that Itachi had almost crushed her voice box. Sakura looked to Naruto and Sasuke in desperation.

"Sakura, can't you heal it?" Naruto voiced the question that Sasuke obviously wanted to ask. Sakura could only shake her head no and, surprising everyone, Sasuke picks Sakura up bridal style and brings her, on top of the rooftops, to Tsunade's office. Sakura, realizing where they were going, started struggling in Sasuke's arms but he held on even tighter.

"Sakura," she immediately stopped struggling at the seriousness of his voice and looked up into his face, "Itachi cannot go unpunished for his actions and you must be healed. Whether Tsunade delivers the punishment or Naruto, Kakashi and I do does not matter." Sakura couldn't help the tears arise in her eyes and looked over to Naruto who nodded his head in agreement. Sakura couldn't help but feel like Naruto and Sasuke were the older brothers she never had and felt so grateful they came when they did. Suddenly, a disturbing thought struck Sakura and unconsciously made her bring her fingers to her throat.

'_Would have Itachi killed me?_' Before Sakura could contemplate an answer, Sasuke and Naruto arrived at Tsunade's office and immediately walked in with no regard for who else was beyond those doors. Sasuke braced himself for Itachi being there but luckily it was a few ANBU reporting about a mission and Tsunade looking passive at the three, until she saw Sakura in Sasuke's arms.

"ANBU. Leave." The two shinobi nodded before disappearing and Tsunade turned all her attention to Sakura. "Put her down on the ground right there." Tsunade got up from behind her desk and knelt down to where Sakura was laying. Sakura pointed to her throat and mimicked Itachi choking her. Tsunade looked to Sasuke and Naruto for answers but Sasuke could only tell her what they saw.

"We walked out to the garden to find Sakura and saw Itachi with his hand around Sakura's throat. And she couldn't use her chakra." Tsunade's eyes widened slightly but placed her hands on either side of Sakura's throat but before she could start healing, Sakura started thrashing about wildly, pushing Tsunade away.

Sakura looked up into Tsunade's eyes, completely relaxed and knew she was in good hands but as soon as her fingers touched her throat, Sakura immediately saw Itachi's face and felt the room become smaller and her breathing become shorter and more panicked. She could feel the oxygen leaving her body as if Itachi's hand was still wrapped around her neck. Sakura tried to fight Itachi off and pushed Tsunade away and crawled till her back hit what she thought was the tree trunk and clung on to it. Looking around, she found herself back in the garden until Tsunade's voice pulled her back to the Hokage's office.

"She is having a flashback of the attack. Sakura, I won't touch your throat, I promise. Please calm down so I can heal you." Sakura nodded and crawled back to Tsunade before lying back on the ground. Tsunade put her hands on Sakura's chest and pushed her chakra to go up to Sakura's neck. Sakura started to struggle, feeling the chakra on her throat but Sasuke held her arms down and yelled to Naruto to hold her legs down. Sakura, feeling those restraints tried to struggle more but Sasuke and Naruto held firm.

Sasuke looked up for a second and his eyes widened when he saw his brother, perched on the open window frame, looking at the girl he had broken. Sasuke thought he saw something in his brother's eyes but when Itachi looked at Sasuke, it was gone. Sasuke flared his chakra and sharingan, telling his brother to 'fuck off' before he came over there are forcefully removed him from this room. Sasuke expected some defiance but Itachi retreated and Sasuke turned his attention back to Sakura and saw her unconscious so he let go of her and saw her bruises were gone.

Tsunade sat back on her heels, just having knocked out Sakura for her own safety. Tsunade went to the intercom near her door and pressed the button in, feeling a weariness in her bones.

"Nurse Jin."

"Yes?"

"I need you to come to my office immediately. Tell no one where you are coming."

"Yes ma'am."

Nurse Jin was there within minutes and looked to Tsunade for instructions, not noticing the young kounichi on the ground.

"Jin, listen to me. You will go get a stretcher. When you get back, Naruto or Sasuke will have a henge placed over and you will bring her to a private room in _that_ section of the hospital." Tsunade gave a side glance at Sasuke and Naruto, avoiding saying where she is sending their beloved team mate. Tsunade turned back to Jin and spoke calmly and coldly. "You will tell no one of this and you will be her primary care nurse. You will be monitoring Sakura 24 hours for however many days she is here. Tell anyone and I swear you will wish for death. Something like this can destroy a shinobi's career." Jin nodded and when he left, Sasuke turned to Tsunade with a harden gaze in his eyes.

"Tsunade-sama, please explain to me what is happening."

"Sasuke, what Sakura is going through is called PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. Her encounter with Itachi and her reaction has forced my hand to do something I do not want to but I must."

"What?" Both Naruto and Sasuke asked at the same time.

"Sakura must be placed in the psych ward for a minimum of 72 hours." And no words were spoken as Sakura, with a henge on, was taken towards her room.

Sakura was groggy when she awoke and noticed she was restrained to a hospital bed. She tried to get free but realized she had no way out of her situation. Reflecting back on her question earlier, Sakura, after remembering the look in Itachi's eyes, found an answer to her question.

'_Yes. Itachi would have killed me._' And with that, Sakura pressed her morphine drip four times and promptly fell into a drug induced sleep.

Itachi didn't know what he was doing, sitting in her hospital room, in the chair in the corner. He memorized the schedule of the nurse watching over Sakura. He checked in on her every 25 minutes or so. When Itachi heard the man approach, he disappeared to the roof and waited till he left before he returned.

'_How long have I been here?_' Although, Itachi knew the answer to that question because he had been there since Sakura passed out from the four morphine doses she injected into herself and the time was shown on the screen, torturing Itachi; it read 12:14 PM and it was almost ten o'clock at night. Itachi went over to the morphine drip and pressed it two more times, knowing that it would keep her asleep through the night from his many stays at the hospital. Itachi knew he should have returned to his seat but couldn't help reaching out to Sakura's throat. He placed his fingers gently over her windpipe, the organ he almost crushed earlier today. Itachi flexed his fingers as he remembered back to the feeling of the cracking of cartilage and the look in her eyes; the look of near death overcoming her thoughts and senses.

Itachi, through his own rational thought process, decided that he would have not killed the kounichi although a part of him whispered in the back of his mind that it wasn't true. Itachi trailed his fingertips from her neck, up over her jawline and past her cheek bone. Itachi brushed her pink hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Sakura, in her sleep, searched out for the warm presence and leaned into Itachi's touch. Immediately, Itachi recoiled and fled from the room and not a moment later, Jin came in to check up on the sleeping kounichi.

Itachi ran from the room so quickly but he kept his train of thought and ran to the training grounds. Itachi ran his fingers through his hair as he ran, loosening a few strands from his hair tie. He took comfort in the dark as he ran to his destination; training ground eleven. It was where he trained his whole life. As a genin, chunin, jounin and even ANBU; this is where Itachi would train. Itachi landed in the training field and recalled every injury, every bruise, and every near death experience and yet he refused to remember the faces of those he killed. That part seemed irrelevant to him. Who cared? As long as he was fighting and killing in the best interest of the village and he came home alive. But, even though Itachi didn't remember the faces of those he killed, the knowledge of the fact he took someone else's life would keep him awake at night.

Itachi sat down in the middle of the training field, legs crossed, and closed his eyes as he meditated. Minutes turned to hours before Itachi opened his eyes.

"Sasuke, you can come out now." Sasuke stepped out from the shadows, his gaze burning holes into his older brother's back.

"Why nii-san?"

"What I did to Sakura-"

"That isn't what I want to know. What you did is inexcusable and I hope you are severely punished for it. You had no right to have done what you did and therefore anything you say about it is null." Itachi's eyes widened a fraction at Sasuke's audacity but refused to allow him the pleasure to see his brother's slight discomfort.

"Then what would you like to know?"

"I want to know why you are training her." Silence came over the two. Itachi was silent; thinking about his answer while Sasuke was silent, waiting for the truth he sought out at about 1 AM.

"In your words Sasuke, the issue is null because I refuse to teach Sakura anymore." Itachi stood up and walked towards Sasuke, keeping his eyes forward the whole time. He stopped next to Sasuke and turned to his left to look at him.

"Nii-san. Whatever the reason was for you training her, trust your instinct. You know she can serve whatever purpose you have for her and no one else can. Don't let your damn Uchiha pride get in the way." Before Itachi could leave, Sasuke stopped him with his voice. "Don't break her anymore Itachi, or I swear I will kill you myself." Itachi scoffed slightly in defiance but refused to answer and disappeared into the night, leaving Sasuke and his own thoughts of Sakura behind in the darkness.

When Sakura awoke, she was about 42 hours into her stay but when she awoke, the trembling stopped and her nightmares ceased. At this point, she knew that she had to refuse to give herself more morphine because it was an addictive substance and she saw what it can do to shinobi. Sakura touched her neck and there were no flash backs or anything. She had to wait about 20 minutes before Jin walked back in. When he entered, he was carrying a plastic tray full of food. Sakura was shocked that she had never seen this nurse before. Sakura allowed herself to blush momentarily because this nurse was extremely good looking. His hair was chocolate brown and stuck up in the air in different places, giving him a boyish charm, and his eyes were ice blue. Sakura could tell he was fit, leading her to believe he used to be in the field but came back to the hospital. Sakura was speechless at the appearance of such a good-looking young man so when Jin laid his eyes on Sakura, he almost dropped the tray he was holding.

"Sakura-san, you are awake! Thank goodness. We got worried when you gave yourself those two addition morphine doses." Sakura was about to protest, saying she did no such think but for some reason, decided she wanted to keep that piece of information to herself. "Sakura-san, Tsunade-sama asked me to fill you in." Sakura sat up in her bed and started eating the food she was given as she listened intently to Jin.

"I am Jin Hiroshi. I am your nurse for the remainder of your stay here. I work in the psych ward and you have been placed under 72 hour mandatory watch because you are suffering from a mild case of PTSD. You have been here for approximately 40 hours so you will need to stay here until Monday morning. After that time, Tsunade will come reevaluate you and see if you are fit to leave. This is normal protocol but we told everyone that you were on a mission for a week. If you leave after 72 hours, we can say you returned early. If you stay later, then you have an excuse. Uzumaki-san and Uchiha-san, your teammates, know you are here but that should be it. Do you have any questions?" Jin waited for a response but Sakura stared at her food in silence. Suddenly, she put her fork down and grabbed the right edge of her plate and threw it to the left, and watched as it hit the wall and the food slid down to the floor. Jin just stared at Sakura, obviously used to this type of response from patients.

"So basically you all think I am crazy because some fucker tried to choke me to death! And I am the crazy one? That asshole should be arrested for what he did!" Sakura's voice cracked halfway through because her throat was still raw from her near death experience with Itachi.

"I will tell Tsunade you would like to speak with her about this issue immediately but next time," Jin started picking up the tray and sent a dashing smile in Sakura's direction, "please eats your food. I had to be very sneaky to get this here with no questions." Sakura bowed her head and mumbled an apology and with that, Jin left.

Sakura had to wait almost three hours before her hospital door opened and Tsunade walked through, obviously angry for some reason.

"Sakura, glad to see you are awake." Sakura nodded her head and Tsunade sighed as she sat down in the chair that Itachi occupied for hours. "Sakura, I talked to the council and they are not willing to press charges. They are saying that there is too much he said/she said going on. Fugaku said he saw the whole thing from a neighbor's house and said that you provoked a fight in which Itachi defended himself. Neither of you will face punishment but I would recommend you stay away from Itachi." Tsunade sighed and looked at the broken face of her favorite student. "I know this isn't the outcome you wanted but I can't do anything. With an eye witness testimony like Fugaku, I am powerless. I am so sorry."

Sakura could only nod as she allowed herself to process the information. Sakura suddenly realized that her restraints had been removed during the night, which comforted her a tiny bit.

"Tsunade, I want you to touch my neck. I need to leave here. I can't allow Itachi the satisfaction of seeing me in here." Sakura grabbed Tsunade's hand and held on tightly. "I will go crazy in here Tsunade-shishou, please." Tsunade reluctantly agreed and reached out and touched Sakura's neck. Initially, she started having flashbacks but kept her breathing regularly and thought about childhood memories and things that didn't involve Itachi. Eventually, Tsunade had her hand around Sakura's throat, like Itachi did and she was staring into Tsunade's face, perfectly fine.

"Fine, you may leave but check out with Jin. If anyone asks, I cancelled your mission and recalled you back to Konoha." Tsunade stood and left the room with no other words, leaving Sakura a little worried she made her shishou mad. Jin came in only seconds later, obviously waiting for Tsunade to leave and brought paperwork in. Sakura signed on a few lines before gathering her clothes and changing in the shower. They were washed, which surprised Sakura, and it felt nice to put them on instead of a hospital gown. When Sakura walked out, Jin was still there. She smiled and shuffled her feet, obviously nervous now that she wasn't a patient anymore.

"I guess a thank you is in order, Jin-san. I appreciate everything you did for me." And with that, Sakura left the hospital through her window and headed straight to her apartment.

It was pretty early in the morning when Sakura left the hospital so avoiding civilians was easy but Sakura was cautious and took to the rooftops, dodging different chakra signatures and keeping hers masked. Sakura entered her apartment through her open window and decided to clean her apartment and give herself the day off before she went to go find Sasuke and Naruto. While cleaning her apartment, Sakura found on her bed her two kodachis with a note written from Sasuke and Naruto.

_Sakura,_

_Get better soon so we can train._

_Naruto & Sasuke_

So, Sakura strapped on her kodachis and kunai when she was finished cleaning her apartment which took almost three hours but by the end, every single corner had been dusted and every square inch vacuumed. Sakura smiled at the result and decided to take a shower to clean up before departing. When she got out, Sakura tied her hair up in a ponytail and put on a white tank top and black cargo pants with combat boots. 

When Sakura stepped outside, it was much cooler than before and the backsides of the leaves were showing when the wind blew.

'_It is going to rain today._' Sakura chuckled at the trick her mother told her about the leaves. '_I miss you, mom._' Sakura decided to try Naruto's apartment first and then going to the training grounds to find the two boys she came to adore as older brothers. Naruto's apartment was a bust but Sakura refused to give up hope. She knew they weren't at Sasuke's apartment because Sasuke refused to allow Naruto to step into his extremely, OCD clean apartment for fear of having a stroke when Naruto messed it up. Sakura heard the loud roar of Chidori and Rasengan as she approached training ground three and smiled at the foolish men. When Sakura came into the clearing, Sasuke and Naruto were at least twenty yards away from each other, panting and out of chakra.

"Boys." Sakura shook her head slightly and smiled when she saw the stupid grin that appeared on Naruto's face but Sasuke looked much more serious.

"Sakura, leave now." Sakura opened her mouth to protest but she didn't need to be asked twice when she looked behind Sasuke. The figure behind Sasuke stepped out of the shadows and his blood red eyes bore into Sakura, looking into her soul. Sakura could feel his hand slowly close over her throat again and snapped her hands up to her neck in fear. Her breathing became short and fast and Sakura took steps backwards, trying to keep her distance from the man who almost killed her days earlier; Uchiha Itachi.

"No. No, no, no, no." Sakura shook her head as the tears appeared in her eyes, her vision was going from clear to blurry which was making Sakura extremely nauseous.

"Sakura-" Itachi tried to take a step toward her but Sakura exploded.

"DON'T! Don't you dare say my name! Don't you dare come close to me! You tried to kill me! You are a fucking MURDERER!" Sakura dropped to her knees, clutching her throat. When she looked up at Itachi, her eyes were that of a broken and defeated animal and only Itachi could reduce her to this state and he knew it. Itachi approached Sakura and Sasuke and Naruto allowed him to get close, knowing that only Itachi could help Sakura.

"Sakura, get up." Itachi stood only five feet from the broken kounichi and saw her eyes harden in response.

"You have no right to tell me what to do." Itachi stared at her for a few minutes and when he finally spoke, the words shocked everyone in the training field.

"Fight me. Use the anger you feel for me and fight me." The next thing Itachi knew is he was flying through the air from a punch that Sakura landed on his cheek.

'_**I**_ _didn't even see her._' Itachi righted himself midair and activated his sharingan. Sakura's chakra completely surrounded her body and was so massive it was giving off its own pulses. Itachi raised his own chakra signature to overpower Sakura's but only by a small amount. Sakura unsheathed her kodachi and sent chakra into the blades, similarly to Sasuke's sword-chidori. Sakura flash stepped, yes, flash stepped, towards Itachi, catching him completely off guard. Itachi drew his own katana just in time to block the attack of Sakura. It was a battle of brute strength but when Itachi looked into Sakura's eyes, his step faltered for a second, forcing him to do two back flips to gain some distance.

'_Yes, her eyes, they are perfect._' Itachi smirked at Sakura and decided to push her beyond her limits, to show her the power of controlling your emotions, especially hate, into your fighting. Her eyes were stone cold and calculating; like a natural born killer. Exactly the look Itachi has had in his eyes Itachi's eyes looked like. Itachi smirked, happy with the progress he was making with Sakura.

'_Yes, I picked the best person to become-_' Itachi's thought process was cut short when Sakura charged at him, striking from above with one of her kodachi which he blocked with his blade and struck from below with her other which he blocked with his hilt. He lifted his knee and made contact with her diaphragm, knocking the wind out of her momentarily.

Itachi made the hand signs and brought his fingers up to his mouth and took a deep breath and released a ball of fire towards Sakura. Sakura dodged to the right, rolling into a crouch and immediately charging again. Sakura sheathed her kodachis as she raced towards Itachi. Suddenly, Sakura was rapidly doing hand signs but Itachi could not hear the jutsu so he dodged Sakura's attempt to make contact with his body and that is when Itachi noticed the small flame on Sakura's hand.

'_Clever, using Chakra Kyushu to drain me of chakra, forcing me to use taijutsu.'_ Itachi sent another Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu Sakura's way. When the fire disappeared, Sakura was nowhere to be seen and Itachi immediately became more guarded. Suddenly, something was wrapped around his ankles, pulling him into the earth.

"Shit." Itachi knew this jutsu very well, the Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu. It was an extremely useful jutsu for the user and deadly for the recipient.

Itachi grabbed his katana and stabbed into the ground and meeting fleshy resistance. Immediately the hands let go and Sakura was forced to reappear from the ground with blood cascading down her cheek in a waterfall and stained her clothes. Sakura attacked Itachi and threw a punch which Itachi blocked along with her knee. Sakura jumped back and attacked again and caught Itachi's heel when he jumped to dodge her low spinning kick, effectively knocking him the ground for a second. Sakura pounced and pulled out a kunai, ready to stab Itachi and inflict damage. Itachi rolled out of the way but receive a huge gash on his arm from the kunai, basically disabling the use of his left arm. Itachi's arm dangled at his side, blood running down his arm till it reached his fingertips where it dropped to the ground like raindrops.

Suddenly, Sakura heard the loud bang of thunder and the crack of lightening before the rain started pouring down. Sakura did not care though, she attacked Itachi again and with every move, bother became more and more weary but Sakura could feel herself become stronger and stronger. Using this anger she felt along with the love she felt for those around her, her moves were becoming crisp and more refined, allowing her to actually hit the stoic Uchiha in front of her. When Sakura would punch the ground, the craters and fissures became bigger and the explosion became more powerful.

Sakura switched to taijutsu, trying to make Itachi's sharingan useless but he was too good to be fooled and could still hold off Sakura's attacks. She managed to land a hit about every ten strikes but she was not able to beat Itachi. Sakura let her guard down for a second and Itachi sent a kick to her head which flew Sakura into a tree. Sakura sat there for a second, collecting her wits about her but raised her hand in defeat. Sakura leaned her head against the bark and relished in the feeling of the raining pouring down on her skin. Lifting her hand up to her cheek, she quickly healed the cut and looked up to Itachi, who was sitting on the ground in discomfort because of his arm. Sakura got up and walked over to the stoic Uchiha, completely ignoring Sasuke and Naruto's protests to leave Itachi alone.

Sakura knelt down next to Itachi and placed her hands on his arm and healed him in silence. Once Itachi's arm was healed, she pushed the rest of her chakra into his body and healed the fractures, bruises and made sure there was no infection. When Sakura was finished, she stood up and walked to her teammates with a smile on her face.

"Sakura…" Naruto hugged his teammate and Sakura returned it with fervor.

"I think I will be fine now." Sakura nodded to Sasuke, thanking him for everything. Sakura turned around when she heard Itachi clear his throat. By this point, all four shinobi were drenched from the rain, Sakura's white tank top was completely see-through which drew Itachi's gaze for a second before he looked back into her eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Itachi spoke.

"Sakura. I regret my actions and words. If you would like, I want to continue teaching you. If you accept, meet me here tomorrow morning, 7 AM, for a training session. If you do not show, I will know your answer." Itachi stepped forward, and as he reached forward with his hand, Sakura flinched but refused to back down and stared Itachi straight in the eyes, a normally foolish thing to do. Itachi trailed his fingertips from Sakura's brow, down her cheek and over her jawline before coming to rest on her throat. Itachi stared at the skin underneath his fingers and Sakura could feel a numbing sensation where Itachi touched. Her skin started to become increasingly warm, her heart started beating even faster and she could feel her breath become short, but not out of fear. Sakura looked into Itachi's eyes and could feel her body urge her to take a step forward, closer to the source of warmth he offered in the cold rain they were standing in. But, fighting her urges, Sakura took a step backward and nodded to Itachi before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Naruto and Sasuke watched as Itachi clenched his hand and looked down at his fingers, obviously confused by the exchange that just occurred.

"Itachi, hurt her and I will kill you." Sasuke turned and walked away from his older brother with Naruto walking beside him. Itachi looked at the retreating back of his brother which a smirk.

"I know you would, otouto." Itachi looked down at his hand, wondering why he felt this compulsive need to reach out and touch Sakura's neck, the place where he had almost killed her. And her latter reaction to his touch perplexed him as well. Itachi had been on plenty of seduction missions and knew how to make a woman's body react but this was different. He didn't touch her to illicit a certain response from Sakura, just to make her comfortable with him being around her and yet she reacted strangely. Itachi ran his fingers through his hair and decided that returning to his apartment was the best option. On his walk back to his apartment, Itachi smirked, remembering the fight and the look in Itachi's eyes. A sense of pride flooded through Itachi as he looked the sky with pride.

'_Yes, I have picked the perfect person to become my protégé._'

**Dun dun duuun! Itachi's **_**true**_** motives become clear… to the readers. Lol. Sakura still has no idea why he is training her but after that incident, I don't think she will ask.**

**A little ItaSaku moment but nothing major will happen for a while, sorry. I want to make this as in character as possible so they can't start feeling anything for a while. I have a plan to get them together, but you all have to wait for that moment! **

**Please review! Thanks!**


	3. Injuries and Promises

Sakura awoke from her slumber sore, tired and frustrated after a week of training with Itachi. It was a beautiful Saturday morning but for Sakura, she wanted nothing else but to sleep the whole day away. Itachi had been relentless with his training. Every day, six or more hours a day with only one break and Sakura could only heal fatal or near fatal wounds which meant one thing; Sakura's body was covered with bruises which were all different colors, different shapes and different sizes but all from the same source; Uchiha Itachi.

'_God damn asshole.'_ Sakura allowed for chakra to flow through her body to loosen up her muscles and heal some of the fractures she didn't get to last night because she passed out right after training. Tonight though, Sakura was going to Ino's house for a sleepover which only meant one thing in Ino's mind, a night out on the town and then back to her house for gossip. Sakura stood up and slowly walked to her dresser but paused and took a look in the mirror. Only in a bra and panties, Sakura could already see the changes her body started to go through because of her training. Sakura was still uncomfortable around Itachi, ever since the incident where he almost killed her because she _cared_.

'_Last time I make that mistake._' Sakura scoffed and traced her fingers down her neck, over her breasts and down to where she could feel the faint lines of her abdominals starting to form. Sakura quickly shook those thoughts and decided to rinse off in the shower, knowing that she would just get dirty again training with Itachi.

After her shower, Sakura got dressed in a black sports bra and white cargo pants with her combat boots and her hair tied in a French braid, cascading down her back. Sakura left her kodachi at home because Itachi told her that until she near perfected her taijutsu stances, weapons were unnecessary. Sakura could tell that Itachi was unhappy with Sakura's progress but she refused to give up.

'_I know I will get into the stance immediately and then we can continue from there._' Sakura sprinted to training ground eleven, always training ground eleven. '_It is getting kind of annoying.'_ Sakura arrived when Itachi did, at exactly 7 o'clock in the morning. '_Always so damn early.'_ Sakura was not a morning person but obviously Itachi was and it made her want to physically harm him.

"Get into your stance. Let us see if you will finally get it." Itachi stood with his arms cross and his sharingan blazing. Sakura gripped her hands into fists, wanting to have a smart retort but knew she would be punished for such a comment. Sakura stood straight up and closed her eyes before widening her stance, shifted her right foot forward and bending her knees. Sakura kept her eyes closed and felt for the correct position. Sakura crouched lower and lower but stopped suddenly. She was about to speak up and say she was done but hesitated and rose from her crouch position about an inch higher.

"Done." Sakura opened her eyes and saw Itachi smirking at her but not out of mockery but out of pride.

"Nicely done. Now we move on." Itachi stood next to Sakura, mimicking her stance but according to his height and body weight. Itachi then showed Sakura a sequence of kicks and punches, basic but with this new stance, Sakura could feel her muscles already becoming fatigued from only minutes of training. Sakura continued to practice those sequences but now that she had the stance down correctly, Itachi moved faster, teaching her almost twenty different sequences. This went on for hours and hours. Sakura was dripping with sweat from head to toe but she knew that she accomplished something and she was making progress. Itachi would correct her when she straightened her arm to far, hyper-extending her elbow. He told her to exhale with every hit; every punch and every kick. Sakura kind of felt ridiculous but Itachi told her to exaggerate so that eventually those sounds will become quick puffs of air that she exhaled through her mouth.

Itachi looked at Sakura, content with the progress they made today. Sakura, as soon as she got the stance correct, could fall into it every single time now which made training move along extremely fast. Itachi wasn't surprised by her progress, seeing as she was a genius but this moment made him realize that he did not make a mistake in his judgment of his protégé, even though Sakura did not know about that. Itachi almost told her multiple times his true objectives, about being his ANBU medic but more importantly about her role in his legacy. Itachi knew that she was only years younger than him but he was going to retire soon to be head of the Uchiha clan and his trained and refined skills would become dull over time but Sakura could continue on. The only problem was if she started to be in a relationship and became pregnant. Itachi pondered this obstacle many times but at the moment did not allow for that train of thought to consume his mind because she was not in a serious relationship, even at the ripe age of 19.

Itachi walked over to Sakura and stood beside her, interrupting her train of thought. He got down in his stance and Sakura mimicked.

"When you punch, rotate your hips towards your target but don't over shoot though." Sakura nodded and tried again but repeated the same mistake. Itachi got behind her and put his left leg behind hers, his right leg behind hers and bent down so that her butt was almost even with his hips. Itachi understood how close he was to the young kounichi but this was the only way to explain his training. He placed both his hands on her hip bones and could feel her shudder under his touch. Itachi smirked but didn't allow his thoughts to stray. Itachi put his mouth next to Sakura's and whispered in her ear.

"If you pretend your enemy is directly in front of you, you only want to twist your hips this far," Itachi used his hands to guide her hips and gripped tighter when he felt her backside rub up against him. Itachi frowned, not used to this reaction from simply touching a woman. Itachi stepped back from Sakura and saw her take a visible deep breath before standing up and getting back into her stance. She repeated the punch and did it perfectly. She turned to Itachi and he simply nodded.

"Now, I want you to put every sequence that I have taught you today and practice against me. I will be moving and such in a predictable manner but this is for you to practice against a real person." Itachi stood in front of Sakura and got into his stance flawlessly. "Go." Sakura attacked Itachi with full force and repeated every sequence she was taught today with precision and grace. She was on par with Itachi with the fluidity but if this was a real fight, Sakura would surely lose but this was progress and progress was better than nothing.

At the end of the match, Sakura was panting but had a glowing smile on her face because she had done everything that day perfectly. Itachi hadn't even broken a sweat, which annoyed Sakura but she didn't complain because Itachi was letting her leave early.

"I know your friend Ino has something planned for you tonight, Sasuke told me. You may leave early tonight." Itachi turned to depart but quickly turned around forgetting something important.

"We have a mission. We leave Monday. It will be the two of us. Take tomorrow off and recover. We leave at dawn. Mission details will be discussed along the way." Itachi disappeared and Sakura couldn't help but feel a little flattered that Itachi wanted her to come along on a mission. Sakura didn't allow her mind to wander because she had to head home to get ready for her night out. When Sakura got out of the shower, she heard a knock on her door and, still in a towel, cracked the door open to see Ino with clothes in one hand a liquor in the other. Sakura groaned but allowed her friend in, knowing she had no clothes to wear tonight. Sakura took her towel off and started to dry her hair and the rest of her body. She went over to her nightstand and started putting on lotion before turning to Ino, who was holding up a small back dress. Sakura grabbed it and slipped in on and it fit perfectly. It had built in bra with a sweetheart neckline but it barely made it to mid-thigh and Sakura knew she couldn't even wear a thong in something so tight. Sakura couldn't help but pull the hem of the dress down but when she did that, the top slid down and exposed her chest. Frustrated, Sakura decided to keep it short.

Sakura could hear Ino in the shower and found some black stilettos that Ino had bought her for her 18th birthday. She slipped them on and grabbed a silver clutch she had in her closet. She went into the bathroom as Ino stepped out and started doing her hair and makeup. Ino squealed at the sight and started gushing about how Sakura was going to outshine her tonight. Sakura laughed at the idea, and looked down to see her B cup barely bulging from her dress while Ino was easily a D cup. Sakura applied her makeup; a little mascara and some smoky colored eye shadow. Sakura applied a light coat of foundation but didn't really think it was very necessary.

Ino stepped into the bathroom in a tight purple dress with a low neckline and even shorter than Sakura's. Ino's breasts were pushed together, creating a heavy amount of cleavage. Sakura left the bathroom to Ino and went to her full length mirror. She stared at her reflection and decided to leave her hair down, framing her face. Sakura didn't realize how much her hair had grown in such little time, almost a three inches since she cut it last. It reached her lower back or to about her tailbone. Sakura loved her hair long and would always run her hair through it and flip it to one side, to give it a fuller look.

Sakura stepped closer to the mirror and ran her fingers over her prominent cheekbones. Even after only a week, Sakura's baby fat had seemed to all together disappear from her body. Sakura felt down her stomach and noticed her little fatty bump disappeared and she no longer had "love handles" as Ino calls them. Her body had an hour glass figure but it was because of muscle and not fat. Sakura turned to the bathroom when she heard the 'click click' of Ino's high heels. Ino and Sakura, completely dressed and ready to go, walked towards the front door and shut the lights off as they went. Ino stopped and ran back to the room, grabbing the liquor she bought, and started drinking with Sakura on their way towards the bar.

Sakura and Ino walked from her apartment and towards the bar, arm-in-arm, collecting the looks and stares of many men as they passed by. The bar was less than 100 feet from Sakura's apartment and they met Hinata and Tenten outside. All the girls were dressed in small dresses and high heels but for some reason, Sakura seemed to stand out amongst the four of them. When they made their entrance, they took a booth in the back. Sakura, Hinata and Tenten all blushed at the wolf whistles they received while Ino soaked it all in and relished in the attention. Sakura, when she was in the booth, allowed for her eyes to wander around the bar and noticed Jin in the corner, chatting up some blonde hair nurse from the orthopedics department. Sakura, deciding to indulge and dip into her retirement fund told the waitress to keep the sake coming all night. All four of her friends looked at her strangely but she just shrugged.

"I am a shinobi; the chance of "retirement" is slim. Why not splurge on a night out?" Sakura laughed as they started downing drink after drink. Eventually, Neji, Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke joined the girls so they moved to a bigger table. Sakura told the waitress that they were on her tab too but Neji and Sasuke politely declined, saying they had more than enough to cover them and the two other boys. Sakura didn't argue and just kept on drinking. Feeling adventurous, Sakura dragged Ino to the dance floor where men and women, seemingly complete strangers, pushed their bodies so close together that if it wasn't for clothes, this would have been a giant orgy.

Sakura started dancing with Ino, allowing the alcohol to consume her thoughts and destroy the polite barriers she had put up for so long. Ino turned Sakura around and forced her butt into her hips and they started grinding together, shamelessly. Neither cared what anyone else thought. Suddenly, Sakura was face to face with Ino but felt someone step behind her. Sakura didn't care but looked over her shoulder to see Jin's gorgeous blue eyes gazing into hers. Sakura threw her head back against his shoulder and brought her hands up to his hair, running her fingers through it. Sakura drove her butt into Jin and allowed his hands to roam over her body, one hand resting on her chest and the other down low on her hip, keeping that part of them connected. Sakura sighed under the attention but there wasn't a spark like there was with Itachi.

Sakura's eyes flew open when she thought of the stoic man and immediately pulled away from Jin. Mumbling an apology, Sakura return to the table and noticed everyone was dancing with someone else besides her and Sasuke.

"What happened to that guy?" Sasuke mumbled behind his sake glass before downing another one. Sakura took everyone else's cups and lined them up, five for Sakura and four for Sasuke and filled them all up. Sakura downed her five sake cups at the same time Sasuke did. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at Sakura desperate attempt to get extremely drunk.

"What happened? I thought about your brother while dancing with him. I am so fucked." Sakura downed another shot and Sasuke choked on his.

"You did what?"

"Sasuke, I am going crazy. I shouldn't think of your brother that way. He almost killed me but I can't help it. I am so stupid, God why do I continue to trust men, even though you all hurt me in the end. I have to stop this nonsense with your brother. I can't let him train me anymore." Sakura kept drinking while Sasuke remained silent.

"Sakura, I think I figured out why Itachi wants to train you. And if I am right, there is no way he would start a relationship with you."

"What? Are you insulting me?" Sakura growled before taking another shot, filling up Sasuke's glass as well.

"No. I am not. If anything, this is a compliment. Sakura, Itachi is teaching you from the very beginning **everything** he has been taught. The most accomplished shinobi since the 4th Hokage is passing down his skill to you. Not only that, but he is teaching you his techniques so that you could train someone like he has trained you."

"So?"

"Sakura, you are so stupid for a genius." Sakura growled but Sasuke interrupted her. "He is grooming you. You are his protégé for after he takes over the Uchiha clan. He can't fight anymore after that so it will be up to you to pass on his knowledge. And that is why he can't start a relationship with you because if he married you, you would have to start having kids right away." Sakura dropped her glass in shock. The table was silent, except for the tapping of glass against the wooden table as Sasuke downed another shot.

"You are kidding, right? There is no way I would be as good as Itachi!"

"Maybe not but you would be a fantastic teacher and he knows that." Sakura was about to retort when she saw Itachi at the bar.

"Excuse me for a second." Sasuke tried to stop Sakura but, even in her drunken stupor, she had the ability to walk steadily over to Itachi.

Itachi was sipping sake at the bar, watching the exchange between Sakura and his otouto. When he noticed her approaching, he put down his sake cup and asked for a second glass. It was filled and waiting for Sakura before she arrived. Sakura looked down at the drink and downed it easily before grabbing the front of Itachi's shirt and tugging him outside.

"We need to talk." Sakura almost threw Itachi outside before she started yelling at him. "When were you going to tell me that I was your, your…"

"Protégé?" Itachi offered his own help but Sakura sneered at him.

"Don't talk mister. You are in big trouble. Did you even think to ask? Maybe I don't want to fill your shoes. Maybe I wanna have babies and settle down and not risk my life for every until I die on the battle field and my only memory is on a stupid memorial! Did you ever think of what I wanted?" Itachi just stood there and took the verbal, drunken abuse. "And! What was your great back up plan if I met someone and settled down? Start all over again? Can't you teach this to ou- your kids? You aren't going to be that old." Sakura stepped forward, her stilettos bringing her almost eye to eye with Itachi. She poked his chest and looked him straight in the eye.

"I was not concerned about you being in a serious relationship. You have shown no interest in a person so I assumed that you would never."

"Well you are wrong!" Sakura huffed in frustration and Itachi raised his eyebrow.

"You are interested in someone?" Sakura blushed and backed away from Itachi.

"N-no." Sakura looked down and to the left but Itachi forced her to look into his eyes by placing his fingers under her chin. He stared into her eyes as if he was studying her.

"You are lying. You will tell me the name of this man so I may speak with him about this."

"You will speak to no one you big oaf!" Sakura started to walk back to her apartment but Itachi grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. Itachi's body was so warm so when he pulled her to him, she couldn't help but pretend to lose her balance and fell into his body, her full length pressed against his. Sakura brought her hands up to his chest and noticed their faces were closer than she anticipated. They stood there for what seemed like forever, their breaths mingling. Sakura could feel the muscles of Itachi's body as they rippled under her attention. Sakura stood frozen in her place but her eyes flickered to his lips and then back up to his eyes. Itachi moved his other hand down from her shoulder, over her upper back and down the curve of body to rest on her hip. Sakura gasped, threw her head back and arched towards Itachi as she felt his fingers ghost over her skin. By throwing her head back, Sakura had given Itachi a good show of the top of her breasts.

Itachi looked at the woman in front of him; cheeks flushed, dressed pulled slightly down but still allowing her to keep her innocence, and her hands clutching his skin. Because of her high shoes, Sakura stood almost nose to nose with Itachi. His gaze traveled down Sakura's face and to her neck which was long, smooth, and strong. Itachi watched as the beat of her heart was showing through the artery in her neck. Her heart was beating fast; and when Itachi moved his hand from her arm to her neck, he could feel the 'lub' 'dub' of her heart and it had begun to sped up to more Itachi touched Sakura. Itachi pulled Sakura's head up and brought his nose down to her neck, in haling her scent and getting it all over his clothes. And then Sakura did something that awoke Itachi from his daze.

"Itachi." Sakura moaned in Itachi's ear and he stilled from the sound. Suddenly, Itachi stilled and Sakura pushed away him. She opened her mouth to say something but shut her mouth immediately. Sakura took a step backwards, almost tripping on a small rock.

"Yo! Itachi!" Itachi turned his head for a split second to see Genma waving him over. Itachi turned his head back to gaze upon the pink haired woman but found nothing but darkness. He cursed under his breath but turned his attention back to his team mate.

"What Genma?"

"Nothing," Itachi turned to leave but stilled at Genma's comment, "but I did see you get comfortable with Sakura. Careful Itachi wouldn't want to scare her off before you catch her." Itachi gave a slight laugh but not a warm laugh. It was a cold and empty one. Itachi turned to look over his shoulder and his gaze made Genma take a slight step backwards.

"I won't have to catch her Genma. I will _break_ her and watch her crawl to me." Genma's eyes hardened and he clenched his fists.

"She is stronger than that Itachi. You will fail and lose more than you think."

'_I can't believe I just did that!_' Sakura ran back to her apartment, having taken her shoes off only seconds into her run and immediately went to her door. She unlocked her apartment and took off her dress and jumped in the shower. She turned the cold water on and tried to see if that would wash away the event that just occurred.

"Shit." Sakura couldn't believe her stupidity.

'_And we have a mission on Monday! How could I be so stupid! I am never drinking alcohol again._' Sakura felt like her life had started spiraling out of control and she needed to get a hold of herself.

"Yes, Itachi is an attractive man but that doesn't excuse my actions. He is my teacher and I am his student. This is not okay. Plus, like Sasuke said, it won't work. He will probably chastise me before our mission on Monday." Sakura stepped out of the shower and put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. Sakura gathered chakra in her hands and started removing as much of the alcohol she could and putting it in the sink, to minimize her hangover the next day.

When she was finished, Sakura had to drag herself to her bed and fall under the covers, knowing that she was going to get an earful tomorrow from her three girlfriends about ditching. Luckily she paid the barmen at the very beginning a substantial amount and told him to keep the change. Next time she went in, if there was a difference, she would be sure to pay it but right now she needed to sleep this night off, hoping that she would awake the next day and it would all be a dream. Unfortunately, for Sakura, it was that one moan and that one movement that sent Itachi's world into turmoil that would eventually lead Sakura and Itachi to make choices that would make or break _**everything**_.

Itachi could still feel her body pressed against him and by making that movement, he did something to arouse Sakura and she let out the sweetest and sexiest moan Itachi had ever heard. He couldn't believe that she was that sensitive, that just brushing against her sent her hormones haywire. Itachi clutched his heart, wondering what this heaviness he felt as he watched her flee from his arms. Itachi snapped his eyes open and mentally beat himself up.

'_I am an Uchiha and she is my protégé. I cannot become distracted by trivial things. My arranged marriage to Yuki is almost finalized, this is unnecessary in my life. Sakura is a tool to me. Nothing else and this will cease immediately._' Itachi felt pressure on his shoulder and turned to see Sasuke, who stood a few inches taller than him smirk at his brother's troubles.

"You told her." It wasn't a question and Itachi was pissed.

"Of course I did Itachi. I want to watch as you let this best thing that could happen to you walk away because you feel such a need to please our parents." Sasuke walked away from his brother but turned to mock him one more time. "Your sickening loyalty to this family will end up destroying you and those around you. Get out while you can." Sasuke disappeared into the darkness and Itachi walked back to the compound, knowing he had a meeting with his father to attend.

'_Another one of __**those**__ meetings._' Itachi usually would try to miss these but he had been absent far too many times and his father's punishment was becoming more and more severe. Mitoko, his innocent mother, had no idea what her husband did to his eldest son.

'_Sasuke is right. My loyalty to this clan will destroy me, but I have accepted that. It is why I refuse to fight back. I have to protect Sasuke from this torture and allow him to live his life in peace._' Itachi walked by Sakura's apartment and noticed her light was on and saw her shadow pass by the window, enticing him to come up to her apartment and take her, ravish her and keep her in bed all night and all of the next day but Itachi knew that tonight was the last night he could allow himself these desires because his marriage to another Uchiha maiden was to be finalized in a few months, unless the Hokage needed Itachi instead but Fugaku told Tsunade that this was of the utmost importance. The wedding date has been set almost three times now because the dowry and such was becoming an issue between the two stubborn fathers.

Itachi understood that Yuki Fuku was the ideal woman, the ideal matriarch for the Uchiha clan and the perfect choice for Itachi. They would create beautiful offspring and Itachi's genius would make them extremely powerful. Yuki also ranked high on the I.Q. tests that she was given but was forced to live a life of being primped to win over Fugaku and Mitoko for their son.

When Itachi entered the compound he heard a whisper in the darkness, calling him over. Itachi turned on his sharingan and assessed the chakra signature and saw that this person was not a threat so he approached the person.

"Itachi-san." He recognized the voice as his future wife's.

"Yes Fuku-san? May I question why we meet in such secrecy?"

"I need to ask you something. It is important and you have to promise to follow through with it."

"I cannot promise what I do not know." Yuki hissed under her breath but sighed in defeat.

"Okay, but I am afraid the walls have ears. Can we meet again? Somewhere more private?"

"I will be leaving Monday for a mission that could have me gone for about two weeks. After that, we will find a spot to speak about the matter you wish to discuss." Yuku nodded and wished Itachi good luck on his mission before darting back into her house. Itachi thought the exchange extremely interesting but he was already extremely late for his meeting. He looked at the time and saw he was over twenty minutes late which meant three strikes with a weapon of his father's choice. Itachi knew that his wound on his chest was still not healed so these would be on his back.

Itachi walked into the underground meeting place of the council and his father and all eyes turned to him. Itachi nodded to his father who frowned in response.

"You are late." A man of many words, Fugaku was not. Itachi nodded and braced himself against the wall but his father turned him around and ordered him to take off his shirt. Itachi stripped his upper half of clothes and Fugaku grabbed his whip. The first strike opened up Itachi's old wound and he hissed but refused to cry out in pain. Even with Sakura's incomplete healing, Itachi's old wound tore back open easily. The next two strikes were painful but Itachi had become virtually numb to the act. When his father was finished, Itachi pulled back over his shirt and felt the blood soak into the fabric and stain the black shirt, but it wasn't visible to the naked eye at night.

"Now, Itachi. As we have discussed, we are planning a coup d'état over Konoha. This will happen in a year and you will be the general that leads our troops to take over the Hokage tower and you will obtain the title of Hokage."

"Yes father."

"Good, your marriage to Yuki is being finalized and it will happen in November or December. You must not fraternize with any other women. We need this to go through in order to ensure that Kouki Fuku and his family will fight with us." Itachi nodded because the pain so unbearable he was afraid to speak for fear of showing weakness. "Now leave. I understand you have a mission. Return as soon as possible." Itachi wanted to bite back and say he wish that he would never return from this mission but Sasuke flashed in his mind so he nodded in affirmation, saving his little brother from his fucked up family.

Itachi staggered up the stairs and out of the ground, slowly making it back to his apartment. His shirt couldn't soak up anymore blood so it ran down the front of his body and started to stain the front of his pants. Slowly the blood made it all that way down his body and a trail started to form behind him. Itachi tried to heal his wounds but his knowledge was lacking. He couldn't go to Sakura who was the only medic he knew. Itachi knew he had to head to the hospital but did not want to explain how he obtained his wounds. Regardless, Itachi made a beeline for the hospital but his obnoxious cousin got in his way.

"Yo! Itachi, how ya… you don't look good. Oh god, you didn't just go see your father did you?" Itachi nodded. He had told Shishu about the abuse when it first started. Shishu begged Itachi to go to the Hokage but Itachi couldn't because of Sasuke. Shishu called him an idiot but helped him put ointment cream on his back and bandaged the wounds.

"Hospital." Shishu's eyes widened in shock because if Itachi was willingly going to the hospital, it must be really bad. Eventually, on their way there, Itachi had passed out because of blood loss but luckily they were close. Shishu started yelling for a stretcher and one was brought out immediately. A blood transfusion was done because Shishu was a match. Shishu looked down at his baby cousin with pity.

Shishu wanted to tell Tsunade everything. About the coup d'état, about Itachi's abuse but he knew that in order for Itachi to finally break free from the demands of his family, he needed to defy his father on his own terms. Shishu heard Itachi mumble a name that made his face light up like a Christmas tree and gave him hope that one day, when the time was right, Itachi would find the strength to fight his father.

Shishu had eventually fallen asleep in the chair but not without smirking at the events that were transpiring.

Itachi had mumbled Sakura's name during his sleep, but not just her plain name, he said "_Sakura-chan._"

Sakura awoke the next morning with a slight headache and a pounding sound on her door. She heard the shrill cry from Ino and the shushing of two other girls, leading Sakura to believe that Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were currently standing outside of her apartment door. Sakura threw the covers from her body and swung her legs over the bed and shivered when her feet touched the cold floor. Slowly, Sakura walked towards the pounding sound emitting from behind her apartment door. Sakura quickly swung the door open and looked into the faces of her friends.

"It was open." Sakura turned around and walked towards the kitchen to start brewing a cup of coffee for her and her friends.

"Where the hell did you go last night?" Ino was the first to ask the question that all of them wanted the answer to.

"If I tell you guys, you have to promise to be quiet about it." All of them nodded and Sakura decided to sit in her favorite chair while the other three piled on the couch.

"So, as you all know, I have been training with Uchiha Itachi for only a week now. I wasn't really sure of his intent," Sakura was interrupted when Ino whispered something along the lines of '_to get into your pants_' but Sakura calmly replied, "but last night, Sasuke told me the real reason for Itachi's individual intention and it is not a sexual reason. Itachi has chosen me as his protégé." Sakura watched her friend's reactions as the information sunk in.

"WHAT? But that means…" Ino trailed off, obviously knowing what this meant for a possible relationship with Itachi. Tenten looked confused but Hinata was slowly putting the pieces together.

"Yes, so that means that I can, in no way, start any relationship with Itachi because of this protégé thing and because he is in an arranged marriage." Sakura got up and made coffee for her and her three friends and brought it back into the living room. She passed the warm cups of coffee to each girl and then sat down again.

"Oh Sakura." Hinata reached out to touch her hand but Sakura recoiled, staring into her coffee.

"I need to finish this. So, last night, after drinking with Sasuke, I confronted Itachi outside the bar. I told him that he should have asked me and questioned what he would have done if I wanted to get pregnant and settle down. He said that he hadn't seen me remotely interested in anyone. Then I had to go and open my big mouth and give the impression I was and then he started asking who this guy was because he needed to talk to him and I got so flustered that I started walking away." Sakura gripped the coffee even though it was starting to burn her through the cup. "And then," Sakura took a deep breath and looked up to see her friends staring intently at her, urging her to continue with her story, "he pulled me back and I stumbled into him." Sakura smiled at the memory of his body pressed against hers.

"I can't explain it but it felt so, _right_. I have never felt that way with a man before. Maybe it was the alcohol maybe it wasn't but I couldn't help it. I wanted to feel every part of him. And then, he…" Sakura took a sip of her coffee, "he slid his hand from my back, down my side and pulled me to him. Then he buried his face in my neck and I don't know if it was the sake or me but I…" Sakura felt her cheeks flush and hesitated a little too long for her friends.

"What did you do Sakura?" Tenten tried to support her friend with her words through this embarrassing story.

Sakura put her coffee down and threw up her hands in defeat. She paced the room, her friends waiting to hear the finale to this story.

"I couldn't help it! I kind of moaned his name…" Sakura turned from her friends and they all started cooing and making kissing noises but Sakura became annoyed. "This isn't funny! Don't you get it? I am starting to fall in love with a man I can't have!" Sakura gasped and placed her hand over her mouth, as if she was trying to force the words to come back. All three of the girls stopped what they were doing and became serious.

"Sakura, did you mean that?" Hinata stood up and walked over to Sakura and forced her to look into Hinata's eyes. "Sakura, if you feel this way, you have to stop training with him. You need to separate yourself from him. He will only hurt you in the end. I know what he is going through and there is nothing you can do to stop this arranged marriage." Hinata looked down in shame because her father was trying to set her up in an arranged marriage with another Hyuuga and Hinata was trying to defy her father for as long as she could but was running out of time.

"Sakura, breaking an arranged marriage is difficult because if he does break it off, then he could possibly be ostracized from his whole family and Sasuke would be forced to take his place which I am sure is a life Itachi does not want for his baby brother." Sakura nodded solemnly, knowing that Hinata was right. This had to end but there was a part of Sakura that remembered the power and confidence she gained when she wore that ANBU masked that she desired to have back in her possession. It was like a strange addiction, wearing that mask and Sakura was a full blown addict. She _needed_ to wear that mask again, even if it meant torturing herself by being near Itachi more.

"I can't. I can't stop training with him. He will teach me and I will become ANBU, I need him." Sakura knew that her last statement had a double meaning but she didn't care right now, it was the truth. She needed him in more ways than one.

"Sakura…" Tenten tried to start reasoning with Sakura but was promptly interrupted.

"I know I will torture myself with this but until I become ANBU and get my team, I have to keep training with Itachi and put my emotions aside." Sakura turned her back, signaling the end of the conversation but turned back around and smiled. "How about a relaxing day in my apartment? We can watch movies all day." The three girls nodded and they all sat down and started to watch movies the whole afternoon together. At about three in the afternoon, Sakura got up when she heard a knock on the door. When she opened, it was chunnin that Sakura recognized.

"Sakura Haruno. Tsunade-sama wishes for your audience. Something has happened regarding your mission. Uchiha Itachi has been injured and may not leave the hospital for a few days." The chunnin disappeared, leaving Sakura stone still as she processed the information. She quickly turned to her room and got dressed in a black tank top and white cargo pants. She tied up her hair as she sprinted out the door, yelling to her friends she would be back in twenty minutes. Sakura sprinted the whole way to Tsunade's office and to her surprise, was not tired, sweaty, or panting when she arrived.

Sakura jumped through the window and was greeted with four ANBU pointing katanas at her neck. When Tsunade gave the order to stand down, Sakura relaxed as they all put away their weapons. Sakura immediately turned to Tsunade, demanding answers with her eyes.

"Shishu brought Itachi in last night with cuts on his chest. He had four but one wound looked to have been partially healed but reopened. Whatever weapon was used, had chakra laced into it, making it impossible to close fully through chakra healing. The wounds must heal naturally and therefore, your mission will be postponed for at least two days. You may go visit him if you would like, he should be awake." Sakura nodded and picked the file off Tsunade's desk and started reading on her way out of her office.

Sakura quickly scanned the file; it was very small and read Tsunade's notes quickly. Words such as; reoccurring, suspicious, and infected immediately popped out of the page and Sakura could feel her throat constrict at the thought of the conversation Sakura was about to have with Itachi. Sakura stood outside of Itachi's door and hesitated for only a second before walking in, a false sense of confidence powering her strides.

When Sakura walked into the room, the first thing she noticed was Shishu slumped in his chair appearing to be asleep. Sakura didn't want to disturb the Uchiha so she let him be and turned her gaze to the Uchiha in the hospital bed who was currently looking out his window, refusing to meet her gaze. Sakura took a deep breath and walked to the end of his bed.

"I apologize for my behavior last night. It was highly inappropriate and will never happen again." Sakura knew that she had no reason to apologize, her body acted without reason and without her permission but she thought that would help break the ice that formed between the two of them. Itachi didn't give a response and continued to stare out the window. Sakura waited for him to speak and realized slowly that he had no reason to talk to her. They barely knew each other so he probably wouldn't tell Sakura the events of last night that led him to be in the hospital but Sakura couldn't help but press the issue.

"Itachi. What happened?" This got his attention. Sharingan blazing, Itachi snapped his head to Sakura and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Remember the last time we had this conversation?" Itachi watched as Sakura stilled and gripped the end of his bed. Eventually the plastic caved under Sakura's strength and started to break into pieces.

"Itachi. You are in a hospital bed. The last time we had this conversation was at your house so obviously something is different." Sakura walked to Itachi's right side but sat at his feet, not wanting to go to close to this particular Uchiha. "I know that you have no reason to trust me but if you are stuck in a hospital bed with wounds that can't be completely healed with chakra, then you cannot train me and it will take longer to finish becoming your protégé. "

Itachi's eyes widened slightly at the implication of her words. '_It means she accepts the role but she is still wavering with her decision. I can hear it in her voice_.' Itachi remained silent and Sakura became frustrated.

"Well, I know you macho men hate hospitals so if you ever find yourself hurt again, don't hesitate to come to my apartment. But, if you do come to my apartment I will only heal you if you tell me who harmed you. That is my one condition. I will let you bleed out on my doorstep if you don't tell me." That was a total lie on Sakura's apart, about letting him bleed out, but he needed to know he was serious about this. Itachi only nodded his head in recognition that he heard Sakura's words. Frustrated, Sakura slammed his folder down on his shins and walked up to him and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Listen Itachi. You are stronger than me and could kill me in a second but I know that you _need_ me just as much as I _need_ you. You need a protégé and I need to get into ANBU and therefore you need to stop pissing off whoever is doing this to you or tell the Hokage so they can be arrested." Sakura didn't wait for an answer before jumping out of the window and ran back to her apartment.

Itachi looked out the window, watching Sakura as she descended to the ground. He smirked at Sakura, remembering Genma's words. Itachi knew that he had backed himself slightly into a corner and knew Sakura was right. There was no one else he could teach to pass on his skills except maybe his brother but that would become tricky. Itachi tried to think of different people but none seemed to fit the bill.

'_The Nara genius is too lazy, the Hyuuga brat is a Hyuuga and the only other genius' in that group are Sakura and Sasuke._' Itachi knew Sasuke was off limits because he didn't want his father to press Sasuke into marrying. If Itachi started handing down his teachings to Sasuke, his father would pressure Sasuke into reproducing and teaching his children while he was young and that is exactly why Itachi put up with his father, to protect Sasuke.

"That was interesting." Shishu commented from the chair in the corner, obviously awake during the whole exchange.

"Hn."

"She is quite the spitfire, eh? Kind of hot too." Shishu smirked when Itachi allowed his mouth to unconsciously turn downwards in a frown but as quickly as it was there, it was gone. Shishu relished in getting a rise out of his cousin and decided to push the envelope. "She has definitely filled out and turned into one hell of a woman. Nice tight ass, perfect breasts although I like mine a little bit bigger, like that Yamanaka girl but Sakura would do just fine. Probably feisty as hell in bed. I bet you she is a screamer-"

"Shishu. Leave. _Now_." Itachi clenched his fists at his side, gripping the sheets till his knuckles turned white. Every fiber in Itachi's being wanted to get out of this bed and strangle Shishu for speaking like that but Itachi reminded himself that Sakura was only a tool and nothing more. Shishu consented and left his cousin alone, laughing while leaving his room.

Itachi repeatedly told himself that Sakura was a tool but flashes of Sakura naked and underneath him, screaming his name as she had an orgasm flooded Itachi's vision no matter how hard he tried to stop the images.

"Fuck you Shishu."

Sakura rushed back to her apartment and arrived to see her girlfriends still in there, watching the movie they stopped when Sakura rushed from the apartment. Sakura sat down and grabbed food before sitting to watch the rest of the movie. After the movie was over, Ino turned the television off and turned to Sakura.

"Why did you rush out of here?"

"Itachi is in the hospital and Tsunade needed to tell me that we weren't leaving for two days."

"And what happened?" Hinata questioned from the end of the couch.

"Well, I apologized for my behavior outside of the bar and then told him to stop getting hurt because he needed to teach me and train me to become his protégé." Ino and Hinata gasped, fully grasping Sakura's words while Tenten remained confused because she did not come from a high standing clan.

"Sakura, that means that you have verbally committed to becoming his protégé." Sakura nodded her head at Ino but Tenten forced them to start back tracking.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Tenten," Hinata started speaking, "you know how before, we were saying that Sakura has feelings for Itachi and has made that a little obvious?" Tenten nodded her head and started putting the ideas together but wanted Hinata to continue. "Well, Sakura told Itachi today, verbally, that even though she has the feelings, she is willing to put them aside to continue training with him." Tenten gasped and looked back to Sakura.

"Sakura verbally gave up the right to pursue Itachi in anyway. And depending on Itachi's response, he will give up the right to pursue Sakura. If anyone within the clan knows of this, then it will have to become an official arrangement if Itachi doesn't want to coordinate a paper document and trusts Sakura upon her word." When Ino was finished, she fell back against the couch and groaned into her hands. "You are serious about this training forehead that you are willing to give up a perfect opportunity to be happy."

"This will make me happy. Being ANBU will make me happy." Sakura, before returning to Konoha, would have said that with truth interwoven into her words with no trace of lies but now, Sakura could feel her voice shake slightly, her bottom quivering under the weight of her lies.

"Sakura, even a deaf man could hear the lies spewing from your mouth." Ino stood up and walked out of Sakura's apartment without speaking another word. Hinata and Tenten bid their goodbyes and left Sakura sitting in her apartment, alone.

Itachi sat up and cursed under his breath at the pain that filled his body. He could feel the wounds straining to stay closed as he exerted his body physically. All day he had been doing different exercises to stay as fit as possible. More than once a nurse had yelled at him but by the second day he could no longer sit still in this hospital bed without moving. It had been almost three days since he last saw Sakura but the heaviness he felt never disappeared.

Shishu had visited him only a few hours ago but Itachi quickly asked him to leave, not wanting to be in his presence after last night. He couldn't explain the feeling exactly, it was almost like anger but a little different. Itachi shook his head and did another sit up, feeling his wounds resist the physical strain. Itachi flopped back into his bead, a thin sheet of sweat covering his body. He hadn't felt this exhausted after simple exercises since he was a genin. Being injured so severely was unfamiliar territory for Itachi and he felt uncomfortable with needles in his arms and the stench of antiseptic materials flooding his senses. Suddenly, sick of this hospital, Itachi stood up and started ripping the needles out of his body and pulling the sensors off his chest and he grabbed his clothes from the plastic bag.

Itachi emerged from the bathroom fully clothed and came face to face with a frightened and irritated nurse.

"Uchiha-san! Return to your bed immediately."

"No." And with that, Itachi walked past the nurse and out the door, leaving behind the stiff white sheets and a confused nurse. Itachi scoffed at the nurse. '_Trying to command an Uchiha to do anything is pointless. We are all too hardheaded._' Itachi walked down the stairs, not bothering to sign out of the hospital and gather the necessary paperwork. He was about to go on a mission with a high class medic-nin.

'_If anything goes wrong, she can heal me._' Itachi reasoned as he walked back to his apartment.

When Itachi arrived, he immediately summoned his animal, the crow, and sent a message to Tsunade informing her of his leaving. Tsunade responded in a calm manner, saying she had no right to boss around Itachi. He was a full grown man and could make his own decisions. Itachi's lip flinched; finding the choice of Tsunade's words not amusing but knew she was not implying anything beyond his age. Itachi then sent another crow to Sakura, informing her to report to the gate at dusk tonight. They had to leave now because of already losing precious time. The crow only came back with a one worded response. _Okay_. Itachi scowled at the slight disrespect but knew he needed to meditate and stretch a lot before he left in about six hours.

Sakura was slightly annoyed at the message but knew she got a few more days off than she expected. While she still trained, she appreciated the lack of bruises painted on her body. Sakura spent a lot of time meditating and controlling her chakra. This helped her calm her thoughts and feelings for Itachi but Sakura knew that they would come back with being around Itachi, alone, for two weeks. Sakura's eyes flew open and she looked at the clock. Dusk was around 6:30 and Sakura's clock read 6:10. Sakura gathered her things and arrived at the gate to see Itachi standing there, already talking to Kimoko and Itsuki, the guards that were stationed at the gate for the end of the afternoon shift.

Itachi nodded to Sakura, forcing her into a faster walk. Sakura waved at the two chunnin guards before exiting the village with Itachi. Once past the safe threshold of Konoha's large gates, Sakura and Itachi immediately started sprinting off into the forest, heading west.

Sakura fell to her knees once she crossed back into Konoha after three and a half weeks of hunting down a known enemy shinobi. It was daunting and grueling work, especially when Itachi was your captain. Sakura looked over to Itachi and noticed he did not break a sweat. She couldn't help but feel self-conscious by her appearance but it worsened when she looked up to see Yuki Fuku, Itachi's wife-to-be. Sakura scowled internally at the woman and looked to see Itachi slightly surprised by the arrival.

"Itachi-san. I must speak to you." Yuki bowed slightly and Itachi nodded and offered Yuki his arm. Staying composed, Yuki graciously accepted with elegance and poise.

'_Like a true Uchiha matriarch._' Sakura couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the lavish and easy lifestyle Yuki had. She was raised to marry Itachi. '_Once Itachi was born, the Fuku's had two boys and had almost given up but decided to try one last time and got Yuki._' Sakura remembered the gossip the older women would whisper about and couldn't help but laugh at the absurd idea of anyone deciding whom she would be with. '_Yeah, except you are allowing Itachi to dictate your feelings for him.'_ Sakura watched the two disappear into the crowd, drawing stares from other Uchiha members. Obviously Itachi wasn't one for public displays of affection, but, he was a gentleman and Sakura knew that even if he didn't want to get married to Yuki, he would be nothing but respectful.

Itachi wanted to look back over his shoulder to gauge the reaction of Sakura from Yuki's presence but did not want Yuki to draw any false conclusions. Yuki lead them through the crowd and towards the Hokage statue. The walk up was quiet and slow because of Yuki's choice in shoe wear. But, they made it at last as the sun was setting into the horizon. Yuki sat on the bench and took off her shoes and crossing her legs Indian style but sat on her feet. She sat back and threw her head back and dangled it over the bench. Itachi was slightly taken aback, never seeing Yuki in this relaxed of a position. Neither spoke for a long time but Yuki was the first to break the ice.

"I wanted to bring you hear today because I know you can make it so we can talk in private." Itachi nodded in affirmation, sending his chakra out searching for any presence; even animals. If he felt a presence, he would scare it off. If it didn't leave, he would go investigate but so far, they were okay. "Itachi, I have no other way of saying this but I need you to do something for me and I cannot be involved." Yuki lifted her head and stared straight into Itachi eyes. With the wedding scheduled for about five months away, Yuki asked him to do the almost impossible.

"I need you to call off the wedding."

Sakura relaxed her muscles as she glided into the warm bath. She could feel her muscles spasm from the heat of the water. All Sakura could think about was getting on her pajamas and crawling under her sheets and sleeping for days. The last three weeks had been torture. Not only were Sakura and Itachi tracking down an S-Rank killer, Itachi was also continuing Sakura's training. Sakura had learned more about kenjutsu skills and her mastery of her kodachis was improving. Itachi told her that she needed to also learn about using the katana and other weapons but that would come at a later date.

Sakura smiled under the water at the phrasing. '_It means he wants to teach me for a long time. Even if I can't be with him romantically, I can still be near him and train with him_.' Sakura tried to reason that this fascination with Itachi was becoming unhealthy but Sakura couldn't help it. Not only did she admire him as a male but also as a shinobi. Sakura shook her head, some water going up her nose and forced her to cough and sit up. She shivered as she hit the cold air of her apartment. She immediately went back in the water and started scrubbing off the dirt and grime. Once clean, Sakura did exactly as planned and fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

'_Flap flap.' _Sakura could hear the tap of paper on her window but refused to get out of bed. Eventually the noise was driving her crazy so she threw the covers off the bed and walked to her window. Sakura knew by looking at the neat calligraphy it was Itachi who wrote the letter.

_ Take two days off. We meet for training Wednesday night at five thirty._

'_Of course._' Sakura threw the letter away and went back to her bed to fall asleep again but knew it was futile. Sakura looked at her clock and almost screamed when it read 2:30 PM on Monday. She had slept almost twenty four hours and still felt tired. '_Holy shit Itachi. You monster._' Sakura stretched and got her running clothes on and went on a forty mile run through the woods and the city before stopping to rest at a small dumpling place. Suddenly, she heard whispers in the rumor mill that made her stop drinking her tea immediately.

"I heard the Kazekage and his siblings are coming."

"I heard they are going to be here tomorrow."

"No, I heard it would be at least three days till they arrived."

Sakura knew she needed to talk to Tsunade about this development and immediately threw money down and walked to the Hokage's office. Sakura marched straight into her office and noticed she was having a deep and heavy conversation with none other than Uchiha Itachi. Sakura's cheeks immediately flushed at the sight of Itachi but quickly turned to Tsunade.

"Is the Kazekage coming?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"And you didn't thing this was important information I needed to know?" Sakura clenched her fist and slammed them down on Tsunade's desk. The wood gave way under the force and it broke in half. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Sakura and threw either half aside, creating craters in the wall.

"Sakura, I was going to contact you this afternoon informing you. In case you wanted to be there to greet them." Sakura flushed in embarrassment and mumbled an apology. Tsunade sighed and gave Sakura a gentle hug before asking her to please excuse herself so that she could continue with her meeting. Once Sakura left, Tsunade turned to Itachi with a very serious look.

"As you were saying?" Itachi nodded and continued their previous conversation.

Sakura didn't sleep a wink that night after she had received the details that night, like promised by Tsunade. Sakura awoke at eight AM, only sleeping about four hours, to pick out an outfit to see the Suna siblings. Sakura felt her hands become cold and sweaty from the nerves of seeing Gaara again.

'_It has been so long… He hurt me so much but I still care about him. I haven't even told anyone the extent of my feelings for him. Everyone thinks I am just completely over him_…" Sakura knew she could only keep up this façade for so long but refused to tell anyone. '_I didn't think I would see him so soon after leaving._' When Sakura was finished, she walked to the gates with about five minutes to spare. When she arrived, the whole council, the rookie 9, Tsunade (accompanied by four ANBU) and Itachi were at the gate awaiting the arrival of Gaara. Sakura walked over to Naruto and Sasuke, standing with her respective team.

Suddenly Sakura gasped when she saw the red-haired shinobi emerge from the shadows of the forest. When Sakura met Gaara's gaze, she could feel her heart race and she took a step forward, the longing and the pain she felt when she left overwhelming her senses. Temari immediately ran to Shikamaru and the rest of the rookie 9 welcomed the Sand siblings. Sakura stayed back and watched as everyone gave their respective introductions. Temari was the first to notice Sakura and ran over and hugged her.

"Hey loser! What have you been up to?" Temari noticed Sakura's looking in her brother's direction and nodded. "Go to him." Temari whispered in Sakura's ear before turning back to Shikamaru. Sakura nodded and walked forward to Gaara and stood directly in front of him with her head bowed.

"Welcome Gaara-sama." Sakura didn't know how to address Gaara now that they were not dating. Gaara made no movement for the longest time and everyone was watching the exchange.

"Sakura." Sakura snapped her head up and looked into Gaara's blue eyes. She couldn't help but remember all the intimate moments they shared and tried looked away but Gaara wouldn't have any of it. With everyone watching, Gaara grabbed Sakura's chin and pulled her face to his. He angled his head slightly and pressed his lips to Sakura's. This brought gasps to all the elders, Tsunade and most of the rookie 9. Naruto and Sasuke knew about the relationship but still felt awkward. Sasuke looked over to his brother and gave a small chuckle. To the naked and untrained eye, Itachi looked composed and uncaring but Sasuke knew he was mad. His fists were clenched under his arms and a small crease formed between his eyebrows, one of Itachi signs that he is mad and not okay with something. Suddenly, the sound of a slap brought Sasuke's attention back to Sakura and Gaara.

Sakura's hand stung but she couldn't help but feel a small amount of satisfaction and the red hand print forming on Gaara's cheek.

"You. You cannot come in here and kiss me like that! You left me so broken Gaara and you could have done something! I told you I was leaving and you just LET ME GO! You did **NOTHING** to stop me from coming back here! I would have dropped everything for you, Gaara! I would have given up being a Konoha shinobi and moved to Suna. I would have run the hospital. I would have given you my heart and soul but you just told me to go home." Sakura could feel the tears running down her face but when Gaara reached out to touch her, stepped backwards and flinched at the thought.

"Don't touch me." Sakura watched as Gaara tried to reach for her again but suddenly a wrist was around Gaara's, stopping him from advancing. Sakura looked up to see Itachi's face looking into Gaara's. They were about the same height but Sakura could tell that Itachi was not happy at all. He would act the same way when she would do something wrong during training that he explained once before. The two shinobi stood like that for minutes. Gaara's san was slowly crawling up Itachi's feet but he refused to flinch. As the sand crawled up Itachi's legs and over his stomach, coming to stop once over his jugular, he remained still and activated his sharingan.

"Stop!" Sakura stood to Gaara's left and placed her hand on Itachi's and looked into his eyes. She placed her other hand next to Itachi's on Gaara's arm and tried pulling them apart. "Itachi," he looked at Sakura when she called his name, "please let go. And Gaara, drop your sand." Itachi and Gaara looked at each other and dropped the offensive threats and took a step back. Sakura sighed and turned to Gaara.

"Gaara, I am sorry. But this stops now. I can-"

"Come back to Suna. I should not have let you go." Sakura's eyes widened and she brought her hand up to her heart. Sakura was about to give her an answer when Gaara was suddenly flying across the air but his sand cushioned his fall. Itachi looked down at his hand and looked at Gaara. He didn't understand it but when he heard Gaara ask that of Sakura, he saw red, lost control and punched the Kazekage. Itachi looked back at Sakura and disappeared quickly before Tsunade could scold him. She apologized profusely to Gaara but he said no harm done and looked to Sakura for an answer but she gave no definitive answer.

"I will inform you of my response before you leave." Sakura turned from the rest of the group and walked back to her apartment, contemplating the events that transpired today and more importantly, Gaara and Itachi.

As Sakura lay in her bed, she thought about the demand Gaara made of her. To return to Suna and start a life with Gaara or stay here and put my life on the line every day and probably never be married or have kids.

Sakura had imagined Gaara coming to Konoha and asking this question and every time she had this dream, she would say no but now that she was given the choice she found herself questioning everything.

"What the hell am I going to say?" Sakura groaned into her pillow and decided to go to bed and immediately fell asleep.

Sakura awoke at four in the morning and sighed, realizing she was not tired at all. After realizing she wasn't going to get any more sleep, Sakura got up and made herself a cup of coffee and went to get dressed. She got dressed in her "slightly cold weather" running outfit which consisted of black spandex leggings and long sleeved shirt, very thin, and a red tank top with white running shorts. She tied her sneakers and took off into the dark streets of Konoha. Sakura did not know the number of miles she ran but she couldn't think of anything else she could do but run and think of her problems.

'_Okay, so I like a guy I can't be with and another has offered me the life I secretly want and I am becoming the protégé of one of the strongest shinobi that has ever existed. Also, he is mysteriously getting hurt by his family and won't talk about it. Meanwhile, he is in an arranged marriage with a perfect woman and he can't defy his parents so I have to watch as the man I care for deeply,' _Sakura avoided the "L" word at all costs, '_gets put together with another woman.'_ Sakura jogged in place and bent down to add twenty more pounds to each of her bands and continued running, slowing down significantly. '_I feel like all my problems actually revolve around Itachi and not Gaara._' Sakura knew what her answer was but decided to sit for a few days with it. Sakura knew her training with Itachi resumed tomorrow so she headed back to her apartment, got a shower and decided to go shopping for groceries.

The end of Gaara's stay, only five days after arriving came quickly. Sakura only saw Kankuro and Temari once for a lunch while Gaara was busy. It was like old times with them and Sakura was happy they didn't bring up their brother. Sakura knew she wasn't prepared for the conversation she was about to have with the former demon host but Sakura knew this moment was going to come eventually.

Sakura was at the gate five minutes early. Only Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru were there when Sakura arrived. Again, Sakura stood between Naruto and Sasuke, as if she wanted their protection from Gaara and Itachi. Naruto and Sasuke noticed her behavior and shifted so they stood in front of Sakura slightly, showing that no one was to mess with her. When Gaara arrived, he was flanked by the council, his siblings, Tsunade and Itachi, again. Sakura was confused for a second, '_why is he __**always**__ around her?_' Sakura wasn't jealous, just curious by Itachi's strange behavior.

"Sakura. I would like to know your response to my request."

"Gaara. I am flattered by your offer but," Sakura looked up to Itachi's face and met his intense gaze before turning back to Gaara, "I cannot accompany you to Suna. I belong here." Sakura walked forward and gave Gaara a hug but he refused to return the hug. Once Sakura let go, a little confused, she noticed Gaara's sand gathering at his feet. Sakura recognized the attack and grabbed onto Gaara.

"No! Don't!" Sakura tried to distract him but Gaara sent his sand spike out of the ground and straight through Itachi's shoulder, missing his heart by an inch. Gaara withdrew the sand and watched as Itachi's body lay on the ground and his movable hand was grasping the wound and he was groaning in pain. Sakura immediately started to heal Itachi's shoulder while Naruto and Sasuke grabbed each of Gaara's arms.

"That was only warning Uchiha. You took Sakura from me. She **was** mine and you will suffer." Gaara's sand started rising again but Sakura turned her face to Gaara's and it was stained with tears.

"Yes Gaara, I **was** yours but YOU let me go! No one stole me from you so don't go around attacking men in my life Gaara. This was your fault. Leave immediately, I cannot see you." Sakura turned back to Itachi, flooding his system with her chakra and barely heard Gaara before he left.

"He is only going to hurt you." Sakura smiled sadly and looked down at the man lying under her hands in pain.

"He already has." Sakura whispered the last part but Itachi snapped his eyes open and looked into Sakura's. Sakura's eyes widened and realized that Itachi had heard her whisper the response. No words were exchanged because Sakura put Itachi to sleep to ease his pain. Sakura sat back and looked at the unconscious man lying before her. The blood was slowly creating a pool around him and Sakura knew she had to act quickly. She swung her leg over Itachi's body and rested herself on his stomach. Sakura immediately started pushing chakra into his shoulder.

Sakura knew that most shoulder injuries like this could end the career of most shinobi because they would not be able to receive immediate attention but Sakura started healing right away which gave Itachi a better chance. Sakura started giving directions to anyone, even council members.

"If you want your strongest shinobi to have the use of his arm, you will listen to me." Sakura closed her eyes, waiting for the stretcher to bring Itachi to the hospital. She kept her eyes closed, focusing on stitching together every tendon, muscle and tissue. It was a slow process and she would need the help from Tsunade to continue healing Itachi because she was the only one with the caliber of knowledge. Sakura could already feel her chakra running low and looked to Naruto.

"Give me your chakra." Sakura knew that asking this of Naruto was unfair but when she looked back at Itachi, she knew that she needed to take a risk. She _needed_ to save his arm so he could continue to teach her.

"Sakura, I can't."

"Now Naruto!" Sakura suddenly felt hands on her back and a surge of energy course through her but as quickly as she felt the surge of energy, immense pain flooded her senses. Sakura could feel the Kyuubi chakra boiling inside her, burning her skin from the inside. Sakura looked down at her hands and noticed that first degree burns were already starting to form. The whole in Itachi's shoulder was closing up, slowly but surely.

Naruto stopped giving Sakura chakra but she continued to heal Itachi. Sakura closed her eyes, knowing that she needed to pull more chakra from somewhere but she didn't know where. With Sakura's eyes closed, she searched and found a small rabbit about ten yards away. She could feel the miniscule amount of chakra inside of it and grabbed for it. Even though it was small, after Sakura felt herself grabbing the chakra, hers surged a little bit. Sakura snapped her eyes opened and realized what she just did before passing out on top of Itachi.

'_I just took another being's chakra…'_

**End.**


	4. Uncontrollable Emotions

When Itachi woke from his medically induced sleep, he immediately tried to move his left arm but found that it remained stationary at his side.

'_All those years of training, gone._'

"Don't worry. You can move your arm. We had to immobilize it in your sleep to help it heal but once the medicine wears off, you'll be able to use it perfectly, thanks to me that is." Itachi's head snapped to the hospital bed next to his and saw Sakura lying on her back, looking sideways at him. Itachi scrunched his eyebrows together, confused as to why his protégé was currently in a hospital bed. Itachi scanned her person for injuries and, while she was low on chakra, nothing else appeared to be wrong. Then, Itachi noticed the bandages on her hands and then looked back at Sakura, silently asking for an explanation.

Sakura sighed and lifted her hands to look at them. She could still feel a slight burning sensation on her hands through the bandages and the morphine. She turned to Itachi and informed him of the events that occurred after he passed out.

"Basically, I knocked you unconscious and started healing you. I started running out of chakra and asked Naruto to give me some. His chakra gave me second degree burns in my hands and first degree burns on different places on my body but those have pretty much healed already. And then Tsunade took over healing you." Sakura was going to tell Itachi about stealing chakra from that bunny but she wanted to do it when they were both fully healed and rested.

"How long have we been here?"

"About three days. We had to keep you sedated 'cause it took Tsunade longer than she expected to heal your shoulder completely. I tried to get Tsunade to heal me first so I could help but she refused and made me wait my turn to get healed. So, because of you, I have been sitting here for three days waiting for your ass to get up." Sakura reached back and pressed a button with her elbow and sat back down on the thin and uncomfortable mattress. Minutes later a nurse walked in, clearly annoyed with Sakura but when Sakura pointed to a conscious Itachi, the nurse immediately blushed and bowed to him.

"Uchiha-sama! You are awake." Itachi heard Sakura mumble something along the lines of '_Uchiha-sama my ass_' but let it slide.

"Please inform Tsunade I am awake and that I would like to speak with her." The nurse nodded and almost ran out of the room, frantically trying to find Tsunade.

Neither Sakura nor Itachi exchanged words about the events before Itachi was knocked unconscious or Gaara's threat to him. There was a silent understanding between the two of them that such things were not to be spoken of because of the current situation. A few minutes of silence passed before Itachi spoke.

"Sakura," she snapped her head in his direction, almost giving herself whiplash, "I fully accept you as my protégé and vow to teach you everything I can." Sakura showed no outer signs of emotions and nodded in affirmation but hiding her sadness was becoming hard.

'_So this means he feels nothing for me…_' Sakura shook her head and refocused back on the topic at hand.

"Do you wanna sign something?" Sakura knew that was usual standard operating procedure when it came to these things so that, specifically male-female situations. A teacher and a protégé can spend years together. They see each other in vulnerable positions and they go on missions together, alone. This paper says that if either of them violates their agreement, i.e. start a romantic relationship, then severe punishment will be dealt out. Also, there is a clause that the protégé must not start a romantic relationship with **anyone**. The punishment varied depending on what was agreed upon but most of the time it was the person who violates the agreement must resign from active duty.

"No but if my family knows, we will." Itachi didn't elaborate any further because Tsunade walked in and looked to Itachi and then to Sakura.

"Glad to see you are awake. I am sure Sakura informed you of the events over the last few days." Tsunade walked over to Sakura and took off her bandages. Under those bandages, Sakura's flesh was severely burned and pus started to leak through the cracks.

"You are lucky I didn't get an infection, Tsunade-shishou." Sakura watched as Tsunade healed her right hand and when she went to go heal her left hand, Sakura pulled away and healed it on her own.

"Go heal Itachi, I wanna train today." Sakura flexed her hands when she was finished healing and started pulling out all of her IVs and stuff. Itachi and Tsunade remained silent as Sakura walked to the door.

"Training ground eleven at five o'clock Sakura. Don't be late." Sakura paused for a second before throwing her hand up in the air as a sign that she heard him and then promptly left the room without another word.

"If your family finds out she is your protégé, it might ruin everything. Your father might kill you for getting so close-" Tsunade started but Itachi interrupted her.

"I know," Itachi flexed his fingers noticing the medication was wearing off just was Sakura said it would, "but if all goes according to plan, realistically, I will not live to see another summer." Itachi, ignoring the look of pity from Tsunade, looked out the window and thought back to when the weight of the Uchiha family had fallen on his shoulders. Itachi still remembered the day his father told him of the coup d'état.

_"Father, you cannot be serious! This is traitorous!" Itachi could feel anger swell in his chest for the first time in a long time._

_ "Itachi, you will not question this. Our plans have already been set in motion, disobey me and I will kill your mother and brother." Fugaku now stood directly in front of Itachi but had to look slightly up at the younger shinobi. Itachi's eyes widened at the threat and looked to the council to argue against my father but they all remained silent._

_ 'I can't believe this…' Itachi tried to take a step backward but immediately encountered a stone wall._

_ "Itachi, swear to silence upon your mother and brother's lives." Itachi did the only thing he could._

_He said yes._

Itachi looked at Tsunade's face and saw the pity in her eyes. He scowled inwardly, not wanting to receive any pity or sympathy from anyone. He may not have chosen his family but the path he followed was one of his own decision making.

His decision to go along with his father's plan was his own '_and_', Itachi thought as he looked at the second hospital bed and smirked, '_my decision to defy my father is also my own._' Itachi looked back to Tsunade and noticed she was done healing. He stretched his arm in circles and felt no pain. '_Amazing.'_ Itachi stood from the bed and grabbed his clothes before changing in the bathroom. When he came back out to the room, Tsunade was still standing there waiting for him.

"So, Tsunade-sama, is the poison ready?"

"Itachi, I told you it won't be ready until the spring. This is a very difficult poison to craft and cannot be done quickly. One screw up could mean the end of your entire clan." Itachi nodded and turned to walk out the room, many thoughts invading his mind. "Itachi, you aren't having second thoughts are you?" Itachi didn't give an answer; instead he walked out his hospital room and towards his apartment.

'_Can I really slaughter most of my clan?_' Itachi wandered into his clean apartment and lay down on the bed, contemplating the answer but had none to give.

Sakura looked down at her hands, remembering the feeling of taking that small bunny's chakra and killing it. Sakura tried to feel for chakra in the trees and animals around her as she walked to training ground eleven but felt only a blank void of space.

"I know I did it, I am not crazy." Sakura tried to focus even harder but still found nothing. She could hear the twigs snapping from animals crushing them and the leaves rustle in the wind but she could not find that same trace of chakra she found in that bunny. "Fuck!" Sakura kicked a rock and stuffed her hands in her pockets and pouted out of frustration. She walked past a bench and sat down, only planning to rest for a few minutes. Sakura closed her eyes and allowed the muscles in her body to completely relax. Sakura waited, not entirely sure of what she was looking for but sent her chakra underground towards a group of ants. Sakura kept her chakra there and waited to finally grasp the concept of stealing nature's chakra. Finally, Sakura felt a tiny pull from her chakra, as if it was being drawn to another source. Sakura went to reach out to it when she was shaken from her meditation.

"Hey asshole! What the hell-" Sakura looked up to see Itachi staring down at her with one quirked eyebrow.

"Sakura, it is almost six." Sakura gasped and looked to see the sun almost fully set. '_Wait, did he come looking for me?_' Sakura looked back to Itachi but found he was already walking towards the training grounds.

"Matte! Itachi!" Sakura sprinted to catch up with Itachi who was walking at a slower pace than she was used to. "Itachi," he turned his head towards Sakura, "I need to tell you about something that happened as I was healing you." And with that, Sakura told him that she _took _another beings life by stealing their chakra. "I know it sounds crazy but I felt my chakra surge after I took whatever I took from that small bunny." Itachi remained silent until they came to the training ground.

"What was going through your mind when you took it's chakra?" Sakura blushed and looked down at her feet, not being able to look Itachi in the eye when she said this.

"I was focused on saving your arm." Sakura looked up at Itachi and noticed her had his katana in his hand. Sakura cocked her head to the side only seconds before Itachi ran the katana over his leg, effectively cutting his femoral artery. Sakura gasped and ran over to him, catching him before he fell to the ground. Sakura started to gather chakra in her hands but noticed none came and suddenly she felt extremely fatigued.

"I took your chakra. Get it from another source or I will bleed out." Itachi gripped Sakura's arm because of the pain shooting throughout his body. Itachi could feel the blood running down his thigh and soaking into the ground but the pain made it hard to focus.

"You idiot! I don't even know if I can do this!" Itachi smirked weakly before moving his hand upwards to grasp Sakura's cheek softly. He turned her head towards him and almost dropped his hand but Sakura held it there out of pure instinct.

"I believe in you." And then Itachi passed out from the sheer pain of his wound. Sakura nodded, still able to feel the warmth of Itachi's hand pressed against her skin, and set to work. She placed her hands over Itachi's wound, which was dangerously close to a certain part of him, and focused on the world around her.

'_I need to heal him.' _Sakura repeated that phrase numerous times and finally she found what she was looking for. Sakura started taking chakra from every small source she could, avoiding people. She started with the grass around her and spiraled outwards, gathering chakra from every source possible. Sakura could feel Itachi's wound stitching itself up and when it was finally closed, Sakura sat back on her haunches. She looked at Itachi, who was slightly pale, and reached for her medical bag. She pulled out a simple two way needle and stuck one needle in her arm and another in Itachi's. Sakura opened the valves and her blood ran down the tube into Itachi's arm.

"Glad I looked at your chart and saw we have the same blood type." Sakura whispered to herself as Itachi got some of his color back. She stopped the flow of blood and collapsed next to Itachi.

When Itachi and Sakura awoke, the first thing they noticed was that everything was dead around them except for the imprint of where they were sitting and laying. The grass was brown, the trees wilted and the leaves all shriveled up. Sakura saw numerous animal carcasses lying about and she could feel the tears well up in her eyes.

'_I did all of this?'_ Sakura stood up weakly and walked around. It was a circle with a diameter of about forty feet of pure death besides Itachi and Sakura.

Itachi stood up and looked around before glancing at Sakura. He knew she was going to be disturbed by what she saw but this was an incredible skill that Itachi must force Sakura to harness. It is a great tool for a shinobi with no morals. Itachi saw this ability as a killing tool while Sakura saw it as a healing one.

'_I could use this to heal people on the spot._'

'_This would be perfect for assassination missions_.'

But neither realized that this ability would get Sakura in more trouble than she bargained for.

Sakura and Itachi decided to call it quits, both exhausted from the blood loss they experienced. Sakura was extremely tired when she walked into her apartment so she walked to her bed, stripping her clothes off as she walked, and crawled under the covers and fell asleep immediately.

Itachi, on the other hand, lay in his bed for most of the night, contemplating his options and his situation with Sakura.

'_Hana will be returning next month fit for duty so we will be going on regular ANBU missions. That only brings us to about late September, early October and the ANBU exams aren't until the end of December. Also, Yuki wants me to convince father to call off the wedding.'_ Itachi sighed and buried his head in his hands, allowing for a moment of emotion to etch into his face. '_When did my life become so fucked up? Oh yeah, when my father thought becoming ANBU by thirteen was a good idea.'_ Itachi got up and walked out of his apartment towards the compound.

Itachi sometimes walked this route, reminding himself of the days when he would walk home from the academy on his own. Itachi was only six when he became a chunnin and he remembered running to his mother every day, complaining about how all the older kids were slow and he was bored in class. Mitoko begged his father to keep him as a chunnin but Fugaku pushed his son to become a jounin at around eleven and then ANBU captain at thirteen. Itachi knew that he would go down in the history books as one of the smartest shinobi to exist. '_Yeah, and murderer of entire clan._' Itachi stopped and looked up and to his right and saw Sakura's light already turned off. Itachi allowed for his lips to curve upwards into a small and almost unnoticeable smile when he thought of the young pink haired woman. Itachi knew that Sakura would have made a great mother to any kid one day and felt a sort of sadness for taking that opportunity away from her by asking her to become his protégé. Itachi knew that Sakura's intelligence should be passed on to the next generation but decided to be selfish for once in his life. Itachi didn't understand the feeling that awakened his body at the small thought of Sakura but it was akin to happiness but not quite.

Itachi clenched his fist and remembered this spontaneous act of grasping Sakura's cheek in his hand. It was an involuntary movement but he was even more curious by Sakura's reaction; grabbing his hand so it did not fall to the ground. A brief moment of curiosity flooded Itachi on Sakura's feelings towards him but the moment was fleeting and he reminded himself of the agreement.

"Once a protégé has been chosen, the protégé may not start a relationship until they have trained a protégé of their own; to ensure that the teachings will continue on. If the protégé does not choose one of their own by the age of thirty five, then-" Itachi stopped, almost choking on his next words, "then the punishment given protégé must give up the title of shinobi and never practice ninjutsu again." Itachi allowed his eyes to drop to the ground in slight shame.

'_So because of my selfishness, Konoha may lose its best medic-nin and Sakura might give up children and being a shinobi.'_ Itachi knew all of this before starting to train Sakura but never felt any hesitation until now. Itachi didn't understand what was happening but he knew that these next few months were not going to be easy and feeling like this about your protégé wouldn't make it any easier.

Sakura woke up around ten thirty in the morning and stretched her sore limbs. Chakra depletion did a number on her joints so she stretched longer before going on her job through the woods and the village. Sakura passed many of the Rookie 9 on her run, surprised to see so many of them in the village. She didn't see Naruto or Sasuke but figured they were probably training for the upcoming ANBU exams as well. Sakura knew she was getting stronger but wondered if she was ever going to come out from behind their shadows. Sakura wanted to be independent from those two in battle if she needed. She wanted to hold her own without the support of either and Sakura knew that the ANBU exams would help show that desire. She knew Naruto and Sasuke only meant the best by protecting her but Sakura knew that she would not get better as a shinobi if she never fought her own battles.

Sakura ran to the training grounds and started warming up slowly. She didn't want to do too much because she was training with Itachi later but her body needed to get loose. Sakura went through her genjutsu, taijutsu and kenjutsu for about an hour and a half before sitting down to mediate. Sakura closed her eyes and started searching for the chakra of the other living beings near her. Sakura could find the chakra but had nowhere to put it.

'_That's it!_' Sakura got up and sprinted to the Hokage tower. Luckily Tsunade was there with no one else because Sakura barged in, panting and trying to get out her sentence in one breath.

"I want you to teach me Nimpo Sozo Saize!" Sakura looked at Tsunade, her hand bracing the door frame for support. Tsunade paused only for a second before nodding her head, yes. Sakura smiled widely and Tsunade called her over. "Now?"

"Yes now. I do not have a lot of time to teach you the hand signs. It is fairly simple for people with perfect chakra control. When you finish the hand signs," Tsunade showed Sakura, "you transfer about three fourths of your chakra you have now into the jutsu to sustain the mark. Once you receive the mark, then you transfer as much chakra as possible into it. You can put almost an infinite amount of chakra in but I must warn you, this deteriorates your life faster than you think." Sakura nodded, still practicing the hand signs as she listened to Tsunade.

"Well, it's not like I have a lot to live for." Sakura shrugged and walked towards the door but Tsunade stopped her.

"Sakura, wait." She turned around to face her shishou, her eyes turning colder by the second to Tsunade, "you have a support system here. Live for them."

"I am sorry Tsunade but my parents died young and I have no siblings. While Naruto and Sasuke have been wonderful, I have no family left in this world. If I had children, they would have no one to call 'grannie' or something. I don't mind losing a few years in order to help someone else keep living that actually has a family." Sakura left the Hokage's office without listening to Tsunade's response. She kept walking, not sure where she was going, but couldn't help the fighting the tears that threaten to fall.

'_No, I refuse to cry._' Sakura took a few deep breaths, calming her eyes and her heart. When Sakura finally looked around, she noticed she was at training ground eleven. '_Of course, my mind brings me to the place that makes me think of Itachi._' Sakura kicked a small rock and sat down in the middle of the clearing. She started the hand signs for the jutsu and when she was about to finish the sequence, someone interrupted her.

"Sakura, stop." She whipped her head to the left and saw Itachi leaning against a tree. Sakura remained quiet and started the sequence over again but before she could get to the third one, Itachi grabbed her wrist to stop her. Sakura in turn, grabbed his and twisted on the ground before kicking up with both her feet into Itachi stomach, sending him flying. Itachi recovered in the air and crouched down when he reached the ground.

"What do you want Itachi?" Sakura was surprised by the coldness in her voice but refused to dwell on the matter when there was a possible upcoming brawl with a powerful opponent.

"You cannot learn that jutsu Sakura." Sakura stood there with her fists clenched in anger and frustration. She looked Itachi dead in the eye and spoke her next words very clearly.

"You can't stop me." Before Sakura could blink, she felt pain in her stomach and then in her back, leading her to believe that Itachi had just unleashed a powerful kick to her gut and she landed against a tree. Sakura staggered to her feet, quickly healing her bruises and got into her taijutsu stance. She waited for Itachi to make the first move.

The two shinobi stood there for almost a minute before Itachi was suddenly in front of Sakura, grabbing her throat and pinning her to the tree. Itachi expected Sakura to lose her mind when he did this so he placed his mouth next to her ear and whispered softly to her.

"Wrong answer, kounichi." Sakura put her head down, as if in shame, but instead it was to hide the smirk that graced her face. Sakura grabbed Itachi's wrist and before he could react, snapped it in a bone crushing grip. He immediately let go and cradled his hand against him. Itachi could feel the bones rub together when he tried to move his arm. Itachi, even with his superior knowledge and experience, was at a disadvantage with only one arm. This meant strictly a taijutsu and kenjutsu fight. Itachi got into his position, minus his right hand, and faced Sakura. This time, Sakura attacked first.

Sakura knew calling Itachi out like this was a suicide mission but she refused to be completely bossed around by Itachi. She made this decision on her own and Itachi had no place interfering. She wouldn't die before she got a protégé, Tsunade made that obvious, so Itachi should have no problem with her learning this jutsu. If anything, it would make her stronger and her protégé stronger because she could teach this technique to him or her.

When Sakura charged, she knew she couldn't do a head on attack because Itachi would see right through it. Sakura put her hands together and gathered the correct amount of chakra.

"Kage no Bushin!" Then, about four Sakuras appeared. Itachi could clearly see with his sharingan that all of these were fakes but knew Sakura was trying to distract him. Itachi dealt with three of the clones and went to attack the fourth when he felt a chakra signature closing in behind him. He took out his katana and turned to face Sakura at the last possible second. Blades clashed and sparked from the impact and Sakura used her one arm advantage to push Itachi backwards. Then, Itachi felt metal at his neck.

'_Shit, the clone._' Itachi sent an elbow backwards and received a cut on his neck before the clone disappeared and the kunai dropped to the ground. Itachi sent a low kick to Sakura and picked up the kunai in one motion before throwing it at her, embedding it in her stomach. Sakura, mid-air, gathered chakra in her hand and quickly healed the wound before throwing the kunai back at Itachi. He easily blocked it but it forced him to allow Sakura to land and they faced off again. Sakura charged, the look in her eyes becoming more and more like Itachi's, cold and calculating. She disappeared again and quickly reappeared behind Itachi and sent a kick to his side. The kick connected but Itachi used his hands to grab Sakura's foot and bring her with him to the ground. Itachi used the momentum to bring Sakura under him and threw her to the ground and landed on top of her. He grabbed both her hands in his right and brought a kunai from his holster and brought it to her neck.

When Sakura opened her eyes, she noticed two things; she had a kunai to her neck and Itachi was straddling her. Sakura visibly blushed at the contact and could feel her pulse speed up. She looked into Itachi's eyes and felt herself drawn to them. She couldn't explain the feeling but she knew that she wanted to be as close to Itachi as possible. Sakura could feel her heart pounding in her ears and a numb sensation washed over her body. Sakura bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back a moan. Sakura could feel Itachi's lower half pressed up against hers and fought the urge to lift her hips.

"Um, Itachi. Can you please get off?" Sakura looked to the side and Itachi sat back on his feet, pressing himself further into Sakura before getting off. Sakura lay in the grass, catching her breath before sitting up. Itachi offered her a hand and she took it graciously. Itachi pulled Sakura to her feet but pulled a little too hard and Sakura fell into his chest. Sakura placed her hands on Itachi's chest and felt her whole body mold into his. Sakura stared at Itachi's chest but eventually her gaze went upwards and finally she looked into Itachi's eyes. She gasped at the proximity but neither of them moved, both mesmerized by the other. Sakura's eyes flickered down to Itachi's lips and then back up to his eyes. They both started moving closer and Sakura tilted her head a little bit but before their lips made contact, a voice interrupted them.

"Um, Itachi-san." Sakura flew away from Itachi at lightning speed and looked to her right and saw Yuki Fuku standing, looking down obviously embarrassed she caught the two. Sakura immediately froze, realizing that Itachi's fiancée saw them almost kiss. And then Sakura realized that she almost kissed Itachi. She looked back at him and saw that he was confused as well by that moment.

"Later Itachi." Sakura quickly disappeared, leaving the two Uchiha's to their thoughts and conversation.

"Yuki-san—"

"It's okay Itachi-san. I know that look; I look at a man the same way you look at her. This same man is the reason why I want you to call off the wedding." Yuki let Itachi register her words.

"Yuki-san, you are mistaken. Sakura is my protégé." Itachi knew it was dangerous to tell Yuki this information but she was asking him to disappoint/disgrace his family so he figured she would keep his secret.

"Itachi-san, I did not come her to lecture you but that is not the way you look at your protégé." Yuki walked up to Itachi and placed her hand gently on his. Itachi looked at her hand and then to her face before sighing lightly.

"Yuki-san. It will be difficult for me to call off the wedding. Plans are being set into motion but we must stall. Argue with your father about the dowry and such. Try to get him to fight my father for a few more months. If that doesn't work, I promise you I will call it off." Itachi didn't know why he felt so compelled to not marry Yuki but boiled it down to her own happiness and desire to be with another man.

When Yuki first confronted Itachi about calling off the wedding, Itachi was surprised to say the least. He thought that Yuki wanted to marry him and therefore could not think of an adequate answer. He remembers Sakura's face flashing in his vision as soon as Yuki made the request but dismissed the idea. He told Yuki that this would take an effort on both sides and she was hesitant but agreed. She explained to Itachi that there was someone outside of the clan that she had fallen in love with. The man already shared his plans to propose and Yuki was forced to tell him of her situation with Itachi. The man was upset but refused to give up and asked Yuki to talk to Itachi.

Itachi looked down at Yuki and extended his arm to her, out of politeness and guided her back to the Uchiha compound.

Sakura, when she returned to her apartment, immediately jumped in the shower to wash off the numbness of Itachi's touch. She brought her hand to her lips and bit her lip.

'_I can't believe I almost kissed him._' Sakura shook her head and finished in the shower. She walked over to her dresser and got dressed. Then, Sakura walked up to her calendar and she looked at the date.

"August 29th." Sakura flipped a few pages and went to December. "Exactly four months till the ANBU exam." Sakura didn't know if she was stronger, having only fought against Itachi these last few weeks. She flexed her arms, noticing that her muscles were getting bigger and every inch of fat had been trimmed from her body. Sakura stepped on her scale that read total body fat, in percentage. When the number finally appeared, Sakura gasped.

'5 percent?' The last time Sakura got on the scale, before her training with Itachi, she was at about twelve percent body fat. Sakura stepped off the scale and went to the kitchen to make herself dinner. Then, Sakura went to bed.

Sakura and Itachi ignored the moment they shared that August day and continued to train. Mostly Itachi spoke, still mad at Sakura for trying to learn that jutsu and since Sakura lost, she refrained from completing the jutsu out of respect. After a month more of training, Sakura had made significant improvements in every area of ninjutsu. She was more than proficient in kenjutsu, already started to learn the katana and her taijutsu was on par with Gai and Lee. Itachi watched as Sakura grew every day and saw the traces of her inner child disappear. Sakura started to become a cold and calculated shinobi and Itachi knew to keep his distance.

Itachi could feel some sort of attraction towards Sakura but knew he could no act upon it. She was a striking beauty and no man could truly deny that but regardless, Itachi kept his distance from Sakura, except during spars. He knew that he was treading on dangerous waters but Hana was being put back on the active roster tomorrow and Itachi already had a two week mission lined up for the day after. Itachi watched as Sakura practiced the fireball jutsu he taught her today. He could already see her fingers were slightly burned along with the corners of her mouth but she refused to stop until Itachi told her to and so far, Itachi was pushing Sakura past the her breaking point; again. When Itachi finally called for their training session to start, Sakura allowed for her fingers to heal on their own, creating slight calluses. Itachi walked up to Sakura and looked her dead in the eye.

"I will be leaving on a two week long mission. I want 100 pounds added to your weights by the end of the two weeks and I expect you to have mastered that jutsu along with others I will teach you tomorrow before I leave." And with no other words, Itachi disappeared leaving Sakura to walk back to her apartment alone. Ever since that 'almost' kiss she and Itachi shared, he had been nothing but cold to her but she understood. They were both fighting something between them which became increasingly harder to do when they were constantly around each other. Sakura had spent more time with Itachi in these last two months than she has spent around Ino. Almost six hours a day were dedicated to Itachi's training session and Sakura didn't get to see much of anyone else since she would return to her apartment, shower, eat and then sleep.

Sakura didn't mind her forced anti-social tendencies because of Itachi but she did miss her friends. She figured after the ANBU exams, her life would become filled with missions, some of which might include Naruto and Sasuke if they pass as well in Tsunade's desire to keep team 7 together. Kakashi had gone back to ANBU after they all had become jounin. Sakura figured it was a superiority complex thing and Kakashi felt the need to be a level above the three of his pupils.

Sakura sighed as she felt her muscles quiver under the hot water as she bathed her body. Sakura had not realized the strain she was constantly putting her muscles through but no matter how hard she pushed herself, she never pulled or tore any muscles while training with Itachi from pure over exertion.

'_I guess Itachi knows when to call it quits.'_ Sakura could feel the burns on her fingers tingle under the water but they didn't hurt, Sakura made sure of that. When Sakura was fully dressed, she looked back at her calendar and sighed.

"Three months. Bring it on." Sakura added fifty pounds to her weights and then decided to walk around the village. "I need to get groceries anyway." Sakura moved, albeit slowly, towards the market. Sakura did the calculations and the total added weight on each band was now equal. Every week, Itachi added twenty five pounds. In total, Sakura had about two hundred pounds to each, bringing the grand total on each weight to almost four hundred pounds. Sakura was astonished that she could carry this much weight without chakra but realized that her muscles slowly grew accustomed to the weight over time, making it easier for her body to handle.

"I wonder if Itachi will let me take off my weights during the ANBU exam…" Sakura knew the answer would probably be no but hoped for the best anyway. "I want to see how fast I am…" Sakura chuckled as she reached the market and started to get her groceries which consisted of vegetables, chicken and some noodles. She stopped at Ichiraku and decided to get some ramen while she was out. She was going to get a table by herself but a group of her friends; Ino, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, Tenten, and Neji were gathered around a table and called her over. Sakura graciously ordered a beef ramen and sake and joined the group. She sat next to Sasuke on the end and smiled, happy to be with her friends.

"So Sakura, how is the training going?" Naruto asked his mouth full of food. Sakura took a bite of her ramen and a sip of her sake before giving her answer.

"It's tough but I am learning a lot. I am afraid I am not getting stronger but we will see when the ANBU exams come around." She saw Sasuke and Naruto nod but noticed their hands clenched.

'_They are nervous… why?_' Sakura didn't have long to contemplate the idea before Neji asked her a question, very softly.

"And how are the Uchiha's taking the knowledge of Itachi _training _you?" Sakura snapped her head to Neji and saw him smirk knowing he was talking about her being Itachi's protégé.

'_Oh no._' Sakura gulped and looked to Tenten to tell Neji to back off.

"That isn't fair Neji. You especially know what Sakura is going through." Neji looked embarrassed before grabbing Tenten's hand under the table.

"To answer your question Neji, Itachi-san's family does not know the extent of our training. They believe I am paying him for lessons so I would appreciate you keeping your mouth shut." Sakura grabbed her sake and took another swig.

"I do not mean to bring out anger Sakura. I am just sending a warning. Uchihas can be assholes when it comes to this thing. They are picky about who learns their secret jutsus and such. Criticism will be extremely mean and you will get more shit from that family than you realize. Normally, Itachi would be forced to pick within their clan and the elders expect that much from him after he marries Fuku-san." Sakura's fist clenched at the name of Itachi's fiancée, which only went noticed by Sasuke, and Neji excused Tenten and himself from the table. They left quietly and Sakura looked down to her hands.

"Do you guys think I should stop training with Itachi?" No one answered immediately, all not wanting to give Sakura the harsh truth.

"Yes." Sasuke was the first to speak up and turned to Sakura with a protective gleam in his eyes. Sakura looked down at her hands, knowing that Sasuke was right.

"Why?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, wondering if it was only jealousy on Sasuke's part.

"Because he will only hurt you Sakura." Sasuke said nothing else and Sakura departed, leaving behind her friends and her half eaten ramen. Sakura walked the dark streets of Konoha, still carrying her groceries. The weights had become much easier to deal with and became lighter the longer Sakura walked. Suddenly, someone was in front of her.

"Shishu-san." Sakura nodded her head to the older, flirtatious Uchiha. He nodded back and smiled crookedly.

"Sakura-san. I would appreciate a moment of your time." Sakura nodded and walked next to Shishu, who had grabbed her groceries in one hand and offered his arm with the other. Sakura took his arm out of respect and walked side-by-side with the Uchiha. Sakura felt nothing as she touched Shishu and waited for him to speak.

"I have come to you tonight Sakura about my baby cousin."

"I assure you Sasuke is fine—"

"I am not talking about Sasuke." Shishu looked down at Sakura and she immediately blushed and looked away from his intense gaze. Sakura tried to pull away from Shishu but he held her tight to his side. Sakura gave up the fight and decided to talk to Shishu.

"Nothing is going on with Itachi. He is simply training me and I am paying him. I don't see why everyone is so critical."

"I know a few things Sakura. And I want to tell you what I know because I want you to talk straight with me." Shishu led them to a bench and sat them down.

"I know that you aren't paying Itachi. I know that you are his protégé and I know that he has a really difficult few months ahead of him. And yet, with all these other distractions, he picks **now** to train you, knowing that it would occupy most of his time. Now Sakura," he turned to her again, "tell me why my baby cousin would take on that addition distraction."

"Shishu—" But Shishu held up his hand.

"I also know that Itachi is being abused by his father and the council." Sakura gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Sakura had suspicions about the wounds but now that they were confirmed, she felt fear flood to every inch of her body.

"We must tell the Hokage!" Sakura turned her body to Shishu, concern covering her face. Shishu smirked.

"I have tried Sakura but I didn't tell you that last piece of information for you to rat out my uncle behind Itachi's back." Sakura blushed slightly, being caught at thinking of that idea.

"So why did you tell me?"

"To gauge your reaction." Sakura's mouth opened and her hand came up and across Shishu's face and the slap resounded throughout the darkness. Shishu smiled and brought his hand up to his cheek.

"You bastard! Playing with my emotions like that. How do I even know you were being serious about Itachi's father." Sakura started to walk away but Shishu grabbed her and threw her against a tree and trapped her between the tree and his body.

"First, never touch me again like that." Sakura looked straight into Shishu's eyes, refusing to back down. "Second, I would never lie to you about that and third, I was gauging your reaction because I needed to know the extent of your attraction to my cousin." Sakura gulped visibly, becoming nervous by the proximity to Shishu. Shishu noticed and pressed his body closer to Sakura's and she froze. Every fiber of her being was frozen still except her eyes. She looked up at Shishu and noticed his face moving closer. Sakura lifted her hands to push him away but Shishu stopped before he got any further.

"Nice of you to join us, Itachi." Shishu put his forearm against the tree, above Sakura's head and turned his head behind him to look at Itachi. By turning his body like this, Sakura was able to see Itachi and knew that he was not happy.

"Itachi—"

"Do not speak, Sakura." Sakura kept her mouth shut, the anger spewing from Itachi's voice. Itachi turned his gaze from Sakura to Shishu who had a smirk on his face. "Get away from her." Shishu brought his hand to Sakura's cheek and she flinched under his touch.

"So soft… Itachi, have you ever had the pleasure to touch the young cherry blossom?" Shishu knew that baiting Itachi was dangerous but he needed to push Itachi to realize his feelings for Sakura.

"Shishu, last warning. Back down." Itachi took a step forward but before he could react, Shishu turned back to Sakura, grabbed her face and brought his lips to hers. Sakura gasped at the contact and Shishu pushed his tongue into her mouth. Sakura was about to push Shishu away when he was suddenly pulled from Sakura's body and thrown almost twenty feet away. Sakura looked up to see Itachi's back in front of her, protecting her from Shishu.

Itachi saw red when he gazed upon Shishu's lips upon Sakura's. He couldn't control his rage and threw Shishu off Sakura. Then he charged Shishu bringing him to his face and his sharingan was spinning.

"Mad I touched her Itachi? You have no claim to her. You guys haven't signed that agreement. Can't blame her for wanting some male attention." Itachi reached back and punched his cousin in the jaw and followed up with a kick to his side. Shishu lay on the ground in pain and Itachi walked up to him and crouched down.

"Never touch her again. She is mine." Itachi watch Shishu stumble away and looked down at his hands. '_She is mine? What compelled me to say that.'_ Itachi walked back to Sakura who was still standing against the tree Shishu had her pinned to. Itachi didn't say a word as he walked up to Sakura. He watched as she put her hand to her lips, contemplating the events that transpired. When Itachi reached Sakura, he stood only inches away from her. Both remained quiet but Sakura was the first to speak.

"Itachi… Shishu told me that your father hits you. Is that true?" Itachi's eyes widened but he gave no answer. Instead he lifted his hand to Sakura's cheek and she leaned into his touch. Itachi's body suddenly became numb and his heart quickened by the simple touch. He gazed upon Sakura's face, mesmerizing each line and inch. Her eyes were closed and she sighed deeply in content. Itachi couldn't help as his body started becoming warm, as if he was on fire on the inside. He could feel himself become hard only at the sight of Sakura. He took a step forward, pressing his body against Sakura's. Sakura knew she was trapped but gave no inclination that she wanted to move. She gasped at the feeling of Itachi's body pressed against her. She didn't want to open her eyes, afraid it would break that spell.

Itachi placed his other hand on Sakura's hip, his body moving on instinct alone.

"Sakura." Sakura opened her eyes and gazed into Itachi's. Her mouth fell open slightly and Itachi could feel her chest pressed against his. Itachi couldn't tell if she or he was breathing quickly but he couldn't seem to control his actions or his thoughts right now. Itachi's mind was flooded with Sakura's scent and the ideas coming to his about her body and the things he would do to it. Itachi felt himself become harder by the second, knowing that Sakura would be able to feel the extent of his desire. When Sakura's eyes widened, he knew that he had been caught but before she could voice an opinion he spoke.

"Did you enjoy Shishu's touch?" Itachi's hands clenched a little at the question and Sakura's relaxed a little bit.

"Itachi, remember the agreement? I can't enjoy any man's touch." Sakura smiled, a fake smile, at Itachi and his eyes narrowed. He brought his lips to Sakura's ear and she arched into the feeling, pressing herself against Itachi's growing erection. He allowed for a sharp intake of breath to convey exactly how much that movement affected his body.

"And yet, you enjoy mine." Sakura remained silent, her hands grasping Itachi's shoulders. And then, Itachi pushed his erection against Sakura's core and she let out an audible gasp and moaned.

"Oh god, Itachi." And then Itachi lost it. He brought his head back and crashed his lips onto Sakura's. Sakura reacted immediately and opened her mouth to Itachi. He invaded her mouth with his tongue and brought his hand to her waist and pushed her into the tree even harder than before. Sakura responded by wrapping her legs around Itachi's waist and brought her hands to his hair, burying them in his raven locks. Itachi growled when Sakura wrapped her legs around his waist and brought his hands higher up Sakura's body, pushing her shirt up and lightly touching the flat plane of her stomach. Itachi could feel her abs under his finger tips and smirked when he felt the goose bumps cover her skin. Sakura pulled away from Itachi and buried her head into his shoulder.

"Itachi." Itachi shushed her, hoping that silence would make this okay. He brought his lips to her neck and kissed, bit and licked Sakura's skin. She moaned at the contact and threw her head back while thrusting her hips into Itachi's. Itachi bit down hard when Sakura did this, fighting back the moan that threatened to escape. Itachi pulled back and looked at Sakura. Her lips were swollen from Itachi's mouth and her cheeks were flush from pleasure. Itachi's lips quirked and he felt some sort of pleasure knowing that he brought this response out of Sakura. Itachi brought his lips back to Sakura's and kissed her gently this time. Sakura responded and sighed contently. Suddenly, they both felt a chakra signature and separated. Sakura looked at Itachi, her clothes disheveled and brought her hands to her mouth.

"Oh my god…" Sakura shook her head and became increasingly angry. "You bastard! I can't believe you! You deliberately fuck with my emotions for some sick amusement to-to-to outdo your cousin. You sick fuck." Sakura wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and spit on the ground. She saw Itachi's eyes narrow and he went to take a step forward.

"No. Itachi. I am done. I should have listened to my friends. They said you were going to hurt me and I thought you were different. But, just as I thought, you are like every other man in my life. You disappoint me. I thought we could remain teacher and student but obviously you cannot do that. I am sorry Itachi, but I can no longer be your protégé." Sakura turned from Itachi and ran as fast as she could, leaving Itachi with his thoughts.

Itachi watched as Sakura disappeared into the darkness and violently punched the tree that was to his left.

'_I can't believe I lost control like that. I need to give Sakura her space. Maybe she will be more amicable when I return._'

Little did Itachi know, Sakura, instead of being upset, was smiling at her devious plan. Sakura was affected by Itachi and his attention but she was playing a game with Itachi. She knew that while she was his protégé, without beating him, she could not learn the jutsu Tsunade taught her. But Itachi was leaving for two weeks on a mission and that gave her more than enough time to learn the jutsu and store a massive amount of chakra. Sakura only hoped that Itachi would take her back as his protégé.

Sakura could still feel her heart pounding while she ran back to her house. She felt a tingling sensation on her lips and her skin felt like it was burning where Itachi's hands touched her. She knew that this was getting out of hand but she needed to keep learning from Itachi up until the ANBU exams, and then she was going to call off being his protégé. Sakura felt a little remorse for playing Itachi this way but couldn't think of another option. She needed to be ready for the exams and the only way she could do that was by playing along with Itachi. Sakura knew that if she stopped learning from him after the ANBU exam, he would have enough time to procure another one, she hoped. Sakura knew this plan could completely backfire in her face but it was her only option.

When Sakura arrived at her apartment, she sat down on her floor and made the appropriate hand signs and whispered, "Nimpo Sozo Saize." Suddenly, Sakura was surrounded by her chakra and a mark started to appear on her forehead. Sakura felt her chakra drain from her body and come to a point between her collarbones. When Sakura was finished, she got up slowly and went to the mirror. When she noticed she didn't have a mark between her eyebrows, like Tsunade, she saw a small mark on her chest. It looked like two C's mirroring each other but the curves were more elongated. The mark was long ways, almost as if it was connecting her collarbones together. Sakura traced the mark and noticed it was almost tattooed into her body.

Sakura walked over to her bed, stripping her clothes like always as she approached her bed and crawled under the covers. Sakura knew that she didn't have to meet Itachi tomorrow and wouldn't see him for two weeks so she slept soundly, relishing in the freedom she felt to make a choice on her own for once.

Itachi didn't sleep that night, like always. He continued to replay the events of the night in his mind. The feeling of Sakura pressed against him, her skin under his fingertips and the desire he felt when he pressed his lips to hers. Itachi stared up at his ceiling in his apartment with a blank stare. Itachi didn't know what to think anymore.

"Shit." Itachi really didn't know what else to say. Everything in his life was falling apart and Itachi felt so out of place. Usually, Itachi's life was in complete order but ever since he met and started to train Sakura, his ideas and beliefs changed. So much so, that Itachi was prepared to betray his family because of Sakura's influence. Itachi was sure Sakura didn't realize that she completely changed his mind about his family with a simple phrase, _no clan is above Konoha law, not even yours_. After Sakura said that, he went to Tsunade and confided in her the Uchiha's plan to overthrow Konoha, no matter what. Tsunade suggested that she speak with Fugaku and the Uchiha council but Itachi immediately protested and said that it wouldn't make a difference.

_ "Tsunade-sama. My father is set on me replacing you and gaining control of Konoha. It wouldn't surprise me if he has spies amongst your ANBU. There is no way to stop him." Itachi knew that was a lie. There was __**one**__ way to stop Fugaku and the council; to kill them._

_ "Itachi. I shouldn't ask you to do this but it must be done. If your father and the council won't listen to reason then they can be counted as traitors and I have to arrest them." Itachi knew that would bring disgrace to the Uchiha name which is something he did not want. Itachi paused for a second before bringing up his idea._

_ "Tsunade-sama. I know poisons can be directed to kill specifically, right?" Tsunade nodded, not really liking where this conversation was going. "I want you to create a poison that kills male Uchihas." Itachi stared into Tsunade's face as her eyes widened in horror._

_ "Itachi, that will kill everyone, even the children." Itachi shook his head and sat down, wanting to explain his reasoning._

_ "You will need to make sure that Sasuke and Shishu are out of the village on the date, under no circumstances. My father will approach Sasuke right before the coup so we have time. You will need to send them on a long mission, months in advance. Tell my father it is non-negotiable." Tsunade nodded, still uncertain by the concept. _

_ "What about the children?" Itachi nodded, knowing that is a main concern of his own._

_ "I will talk to the wives and give them a warning. I will tell them that on a certain day, they need to leave the compound along with their sons who want to remain innocent. I know most of the wives are clueless to this plan and will head my warning; they trust me." Itachi watched Tsunade nod and come to accept the idea but then the idea suddenly struck her._

_ "Who will administer the poison?" Itachi didn't answer and allowed Tsunade to draw her own conclusions. "Itachi, you can't. There are plenty of people that can do this." Itachi shook his head and allowed for his shoulders to slump forward._

_ "Tsunade, don't you see?" Itachi dropped the honorific, feeling that when talking about his death, he would rather talk to an equal and not his Hokage._ _"I am the only one that can do this. Everyone will ask questions and you can use me as a scapegoat."_

_ "Itachi, you don't mean…"_

_ "Yes, after I disperse the poison, it will kill me and you will tell everyone that I went rogue and killed the males in my clan. I knew the poison would kill me so you can say it was murder-suicide." Itachi waited for Tsunade to speak but she gave no answer for a long time. Finally she spoke._

_ "Itachi. I do not like this idea but I find no other way around it. I will have our greatest poison makers work on this, swearing them to secrecy and I will brief them. They will have a silence jutsu placed on them so our secret is safe. But Itachi," he looked up at Tsunade and saw concern in her eyes, "if you decided to follow through with this, I want you to end this business with Sakura." Itachi bore his gaze into Tsunade's and spoke with a calm, soothing and finalized tone._

_ "I will not." Itachi stood and walked out of the room and looked over his shoulder. "Tsunade-sama, please understand my intention was to never hurt Sakura but," Itachi paused and grasped the door tightly, "I want to make sure that my legacy lives on and Sakura is the key. I need her." And with that, Itachi left Tsunade to her thoughts and the guilt of many lives on her shoulders._

Itachi grew frustrated at the memory. He was willing to give his life to Konoha and yet he couldn't give up Sakura. He felt the guilt eating away at his heart, muscle and bone. Every fiber of his being was filled with remorse of his actions and he could nothing to control these emotions from flooding his mind. Itachi kept up a dam for so long keeping these emotions out and Sakura came into his life in a bigger way than he thought and brought that dam down.

'_I can't control my body when I am around her, it is getting ridiculous._' Itachi wanted to wrap his hands around her throat again and finish the job, hoping her death would bring relief to his mind but the thought of the death of Sakura made his heart hurt and his stomach feel heavy, as if he just ate a ton of rocks. He could feel his throat constrict that the concept of Sakura being gone and the image of her death flickered in his vision and then completely disappeared. Itachi swung his legs to the floor and stood up, trying to rid himself of these burdens. He grabbed his coat and walked out of his apartment to try and walk off a sleepless night.

Sakura awoke feeling groggy and rubbed her eyes to try and rid the sleep from her body. She sprung out of bed when she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost noon.

"Shit!" Sakura started to run to the shower but realized that she did not have training with Itachi today. Sakura paused for a second and decided, on a whim, to go to training ground eleven and see if he would even show up.

When Sakura arrived at the training grounds, it was empty. Sakura didn't think that Itachi was actually going to be there but she had a tiny bit of hope that he would decide to make a random appearance. A part of Sakura wanted him to come to the training ground and sweep her off her feet and take her away, forgetting all about the protégé agreement but Sakura knew that was a stupid dream and nothing more. Sakura had no idea what was going on with Itachi. His family was abusing him and yet his mother seemed to have no idea but he was still being secretive with her.

"Is there more to this than I think?" Sakura placed her hand on a tree and absorbed its chakra and transferred it to her mark. Sakura continued to walk around the training ground, doing it with every tree, the grass around her and the animals that scurried by her. Sakura knew she was murdering these innocent beings but, strangely, Sakura found that she did not care.

'_Is this a result of my training with Itachi? Have I become that cold?_' Sakura couldn't help but remember how warm she felt when Itachi was touching her bare skin and blushed profusely at the memory.

"I didn't think you would come." Sakura whipped around and saw Itachi standing at the opposite end of the training ground.

"Itachi." Sakura didn't say more and Itachi didn't expect her to. They stood there for moments, waiting for something to happen. Itachi looked to Sakura's chest and saw her tattoo.

"I see." Itachi walked towards Sakura and she didn't move. She couldn't move. It's almost as if Itachi presence alone rooted her to the spot and froze her body. She could hear her heart beat pounding against her chest and her skin started to heat up, Itachi not even being within close proximity to the young kounichi. Sakura's mind was telling her to flee, to run from Itachi and never return but her body wouldn't move, only her fingers twitched slightly. Itachi stood in front of Sakura and lifted his hand. His placed his finger on one end of the curve and ghosted his finger over the mark. Sakura bit her lip, not wanting to make a sound, hoping that her silence would keep this moment in a dream. Any noise would bring them crashing back to reality.

Sakura looked at Itachi for the first time in a long time. She studied his face and noticed that he didn't have a single pore. The only flaw seemed to be the two lines at were etched into his face from sleepless nights. Sakura couldn't help it as her arm lifted to Itachi face. She cupped his jaw with both hands and Itachi dropped his hand from her tattoo and looked into Sakura's face. She used her thumbs to trace the lines on his face and looked into his eyes.

"What keeps you up at night, Itachi?" He gave no answer for a long time, searching for the appropriate response. Normally Itachi wouldn't have answered because he didn't know but now Itachi knew what kept him up at night and made him walk in the darkness alone.

"My future." Itachi expected Sakura to show pity but he saw the cold and calculated response flood her eyes.

"We are shinobi. We have no future." And with that, Sakura turned and walked away, giving Itachi plenty of time to stop her but he watched her walk away. Itachi stood there for a moment after Sakura disappeared and walked back to his apartment. He contemplated her answer for a long time and when he got to his apartment he felt strangely tired. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, expecting him to only meditate but suddenly, Itachi found himself growing weary and he fell asleep and, for the first time in a long time, he slept the whole afternoon and through the night to the morning.

Sakura released a breath she was holding as she walked away from Itachi, trying to keep herself upright and not collapse from the pressure of Itachi's presence. Sakura didn't know if she could continue being his protégé but hoped that a few weeks apart might lessen her feelings. Sakura told herself that she would keep her emotions at bay but when Itachi reciprocated those feelings, she couldn't help but respond. It was like he opened a door that she had to walk through. Sakura had never felt this way about any man, even Gaara. When she and Gaara were intimate, she loved him but Itachi sparked a desire in her she could not even describe. It was as if her whole body was on fire from the inside and she couldn't control her actions when she was around him.

Already feeling exhausted from the day's events and only being awake for an hour, Sakura walked to her favorite restaurant and decided to eat out today. Sakura needed time to sip on her sake and eat her lunch but when Sasuke sat down, she did not expect the next words out of his mouth.

"I think my family is planning to take over Konoha and my brother is at the heart of it." Sakura put down her chopsticks, took the whole sake bottle and chugged it right there.

"Fuck."

**End.**


	5. Attacked and Ready

**Hey guys. Two reviewers pointed out that a. my paragraphs can be really bulky and that b. I am spelling ****kunoichi wrong. I am going to fix these in the upcoming chapters. Thank you so much to those two reviewers for your kind words of constructive criticism. Every bit helps. Sorry for the long wait, I just started college and it's been hard to sit down and write out a chapter. I will **_**try**_** to write faster but with all the work, it will be difficult. Thanks for your patience and chapters will be coming less frequent. Here is the chapter!**

The next day, Sakura went to go confront Itachi about what Sasuke told her the night before but found his apartment empty. Immediately she went to see Tsunade and was promptly told that Itachi would be gone for two to four weeks and cannot be contacted by anyone, for fear of compromising the mission. Sakura was beyond angry and stomped out of the Hokage's office and decided to go let out some steam at the training ground. On her way there, Sakura passed by the place where her and Itachi crossed a line that should have never been crossed, where they shared their first kiss. Sakura lifted her fingers to touch her lips and she could still feel the tingle as if the kiss happened moments ago.

Sakura sighed and allowed her hand to fall to her side and continued to walk, leaving that memory of Itachi behind her. She continued till she reached training ground eleven and decided to continue her training in hopes that Itachi would forgive her when he returned from his mission.

"He has to." Sakura thought smugly, knowing that Itachi had invested too much into training her. Sakura didn't understand her new found confidence but started to slightly enjoy it.

As Sakura started to warm up, she couldn't help but allow her thoughts to wander to her and Itachi. The strange feelings that were arising in Sakura's heart, flooding her mind with ideas and dreams that were unrealistic. The ache that Sakura felt from being separated from Itachi forced her hand to her chest, as if the pressure would relieve that pain. Sakura's collapse, her legs caving from the weight of everything going on in her life and she dropped to her knees, wincing at the contact of bone-to-ground.

While Sakura contemplated the events going on in her life, she failed to notice two different things. One, the sky was slowly turning gray and a chill started to fill the air. The second is that she was being watched. This person's chakra was completely hidden and Sakura was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she failed to remember her training with Itachi; always be aware of your surroundings. The unknown person cocked their head to the side, reading the obvious distress, frustration and ache that were etched deeply into the lines on this young kunoichi's face. While the obvious emotions this kunoichi was displaying were slightly interesting, it was not why this person decided to watch her.

'_All in good time…'_ The man thought before sprinting away, his black cloak with red clouds bellowing behind him. '_Leader will be curious to discover what I have learned over the past few weeks._'

Sakura whipped her head around when she heard the slight movement of leaves on a nearly windless day. She shrugged it off, thinking it was an animal but couldn't help the gut wrenching feeling clawing at her stomach. Sakura brought her thoughts back to her task at hand; training. While it became increasingly difficult to concentrate, the heat and Itachi consuming and invading her mind and body, she pushed through and made sure to get all of her training done and added more to the weights periodically. By the time Sakura was finished, she found herself staring into a darkening sky, sweating dripping down her back and making her clothes cling to her skin. Most would feel gross in this state but Sakura felt comforted, knowing that her hard work paid off and she was getting somewhere with her training.

Sakura sat up quickly and proceeded to stand, swaying slightly on her feet. Suddenly she heard a rustle from her right and quickly grabbed a kunai from her pouch and sent it flying to her target.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Sakura's ears perked up at the noise and suddenly an orange and black dressed person with yellow hair flew into the clearing, a kunai embedded in the tree behind him and a gash on his arm. "Sakura-chan! Why did you do that?" Naruto looked up, his cerulean eyes showing pain but no tears formed.

"Ah, gomen Naruto. You shouldn't have scared me like that." Sakura walked over to Naruto and grasped his arm, sending her chakra to stitch up the skin and stop the bleeding. When the healing was over, Sakura brought her hands back to her side and smiled at Naruto.

"Ne, Sakura-chan. When did you get that tattoo?" Naruto poked at the design at Sakura's collarbone and she unconsciously brought her fingers up to trace it.

"Oh this? I learned Tsunade's restoration jutsu and this was the tattoo I got. I guess it's better than I diamond between my eyebrows." Sakura tilted her head and grinned at Naruto before linking their arms together. "You wanna go get ramen with me Naruto? My treat!"

"Hell yeah! Let's go!" Sakura let out a laugh as Naruto pulled her towards her favorite restaurant, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by a friend. Along the way, they somehow managed to pull Ino, Choiji and Sasuke into the mix and when they arrived, Hinata, Kiba and Shino had just sat down so they pulled their tables together and decided to eat together. Sakura made sure to order sake and decided to sit at the end, next to Sasuke, so that she could speak with him privately.

"Hey Sasuke," he turned towards her and only blinked as conformation that he heard her, "I was thinking about what you said yesterday. How sure are you? Because I cannot confront your brother about this without being 100% certain." Sasuke's eyes hardened and he grabbed her wrist and Sakura winced from the pressure.

"You may not, under ANY circumstances, approach my brother about this." Sakura's jaw became slightly unhinged and her mouth was agape. "Listen. I shouldn't have told you in the first place. I am sorry. But, if my family gets one hint that you may know something, they will kill you if this is true. Not only that, but they will find out about my brother training you and will confront you about it and that is the last thing any of us need is my family harassing you. Let me investigate it. I'll talk to Itachi when he gets back." Sasuke let go of Sakura's wrist when Ayame came around and took orders.

"Beef please. And a bottle of warm sake for me." Sakura lightly rubbed her wrist before turning back to Sasuke. "Listen, I'm not happy about this but I won't confront your brother. But, you will keep me in the loop okay? I promise to keep my mouth shut but you told me this information and therefore I want details. I will not be kept in the dark about this. I—" Sakura paused, not allowing the next words to escape.

"You what Sakura? Care about my brother?" Sakura blushed but refused to answer, her silence giving everything away. "You know that isn't smart, right?" Sakura nodded. "For a genius, you can be pretty stupid." Sakura kicked Sasuke's shin under the table but smiled.

"Yeah, I know."

"Hey lovebirds! Stop whispering over there and talk to the rest of us!" Sakura glared at Kiba from across the table and looked at Sasuke who was blushing slightly but Sakura refused to dwell on it.

"Oh shut up Kiba! Just 'cause you're not getting any doesn't mean you can take your anger out on everyone else!" Sakura yelled back, causing the whole restaurant to turn their heads slightly towards the big group. Kiba blushed and tried to force out a comeback but was too embarrassed to say much of anything.

"Oh shut up Kiba, she got you." Naruto threw his head back and laughed and smoothly swung his arm behind Hinata to rest on the back of her chair. The kunoichi blushed but bravely leaned back so that his arm touched her back. He glanced down at her and gave her a big smile which she returned.

'_It's so nice to be around all of them again. These next two weeks without Itachi might not be that bad._' Sakura couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt until Naruto cracked another joke at Kiba's expense and started drinking and laughing alongside her friends of many years.

It had been two weeks and Sakura had not seen or heard of Itachi's return, which was slightly unnerving but there was nothing she could do about it. Tsunade wouldn't tell her anything so all she could do was wait and Sakura hated playing the waiting game. Sakura had trained hard for these past two weeks but felt she was at a standstill without Itachi there to teach her new training techniques or push her to her limits.

Sakura flopped onto the ground on her back and looked up to the clear blue sky. She closed her eyes, focusing on the world around her and started to pull chakra from her surroundings and putting it into her chakra reserves. She felt the surge of chakra rush her veins and started using it to heal her bruises and sore muscles. Sakura refused to venture any father and halted the inflow of chakra.

"You can kill someone by doing that." Sakura gasped and spun around to see Itachi standing at the edge of the clearing, where dead grass met green grass.

"Itachi!" Sakura fought the urge to run to him and took a step backwards, remembering that she was no longer Itachi's protégé. She felt the butterflies in her stomach appear and looked at the ground. Only Itachi could strip Sakura down to a blushing, nervous twelve year old. She took a deep breath and look up at Itachi, voicing her question.

"Itachi, I apologize for my behavior. Disrespecting you by learning Tsunade's technique… But I had to! Don't you see? I will be a better shinobi because of it." Itachi didn't say a word as Sakura explained herself. "I guess what I am trying to say is, if you will allow it, I want to become your protégé again."

"Yes." Sakura's eyes widened at the response in happiness but before she could blink, Itachi was in front of her with a kunai aimed at her throat. Sakura smirked and ducked quickly, throwing a leg out to trip Itachi, forcing him to jump in the air to avoid the attack. Sakura looked up and jumped, forcing chakra into her feet, sending her flying upwards faster than Itachi. She lifted her knee so her thigh was parallel with the ground, attempting to knee Itachi in the chin. He cupped his hands, stopping her assault and ran his hands down her calf, grabbed her ankle and threw her sideways, allowing him the opportunity to land on the ground and create distance.

"How much weight do you have on?"

"Almost four hundred pounds in each weight." Itachi's eyes widened slightly before smirking victoriously.

'_That is more than Gai or Lee… perfect._' This time, Itachi was the one to attack first, throwing four shuriken and following them up with a fire jutsu before disappearing behind the large fireball. Sakura dodged to the left, successfully avoiding the jutsu and shuriken but Itachi was behind her before she could think and sent a kick to her side and connected successfully. Sakura managed to right herself before she hit the tree and landed against the tree and pushed chakra into her feet and launched herself right at Itachi. Sakura changed her position, her feet heading directly towards Itachi and was shocked when her feet hit his sternum, sending him flying backwards. Itachi jumped back at the last second, lessening the impact but could feel his ribs cave under the pressure.

'_Yes!_' Sakura smiled as she saw Itachi go flying backwards and grab his chest. Sakura allowed herself a small victory and threw a fist up in the air. When she looked back at Itachi, she saw him smirking.

"Why are you so happy?"

"This is the first time I've landed a hit on you when we were sparring! It means I am getting better!" Sakura smiled largely at Itachi, the corners of the mouth seemingly reach her ears.

Watching Itachi wince and grab near his ribs, Sakura walked towards Itachi, her mind already focused on healing Itachi and nothing else. When Sakura reached for the hem of Itachi's shirt, he lifted his arms, despite the pain and allowed the removal of his shirt. Sakura placed her hands on Itachi's chest, avoiding his piercing gaze as she sent her chakra to his ribs and repaired his bones and fixed the bruises. When Sakura was done healing, she kept her hands in place and looked up to meet Itachi's gaze. Flashbacks of their kiss played in Sakura's vision and she felt her face become hot and her mouth became dry. The tips of her fingers clenched slightly and her gaze flickered down to his lips and then back up to his eyes.

"No!" Sakura flew backwards, the outcry falling from her lips and put a hand over her heart. "God damn it Itachi. We need to stop this!" Sakura shook her head, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. Itachi opened his mouth to say something but Sakura cut him off. "Stop it! Don't say anything." Sakura whispered the last half almost to herself. "You have a fiancée!" Sakura nearly screamed the last part, the pain in her voice making Itachi flinch.

"Training here tomorrow at 7 PM." And with that, Sakura disappeared with a poof, leaving Itachi there to contemplate his plans for the next few months.

Itachi wanted to tell Sakura that none of it mattered, that his fiancée meant nothing to him. This desire to defy his family was one that he couldn't understand. His whole life was about the good of the clan and ever since Sakura entered his life, he has been forced to reevaluate his loyalties. The loyalties that have been ingrained and etched into every fiber of his being and anything that Itachi did, missions, training, meetings, or marrying someone, was about pleasing and furthering the success of his clan.

But, now, Itachi had no idea what his purpose was and for the first time, Itachi felt some feeling rise up that accelerated his heart rate and made his fingers sweat. Frustrated by the lack of understanding the chemical flares happening in his body, Itachi spun around, chakra in his fist and punched the tree behind him, his whole fist going through the tree, and disappeared and went back to his apartment to nurse his cut up hand and his slightly hurt pride.

"Itachi, I need to know if you want out of this plan." Tsunade started at the young shinobi before her and sat back in her chair.

"Tsunade-sama, with all due respect, I don't see an alternative. This is my family and I need to do this."

"Itachi, we can come up with another plan… All we need is some time." Tsunade could hear the uncertainty in her own voice but she had a hard time justifying the death of a young shinobi like Itachi.

"There is no other option Tsunade. Anyone else and it would look like a conspiracy stemming from your office. I already explained that if you can create the poison to target male Uchihas then it will look like a murder-suicide." Tsunade knew that he was correct but couldn't help but feel pity for the man before her.

'_No one deserves to have to take on this burden._' Tsunade was unable to full commit to this plan, seeking alternatives behind Itachi's back but found that she was agreeing with his reasoning. '_If I confront the Uchihas, they could easily turn people against me and cause a civil war and we cannot wait for them to attack for fear of them winning the fight. We have no idea if any other clans are involved in this coup d'état. Too many ifs, not enough certainty._' Tsunade's though process was cut off by Itachi.

"Although, I do need your help." Tsunade stared curiously at Itachi, wondering what the most powerful shinobi in the world could want her help for.

"Yes Itachi?"

"Yuki-san has come to me requesting that our marriage not be successful. She has a man in her life she desperately wants to marry. Is there anything you can do to stop this marriage?"

"Well, Yuki-san would have to be public about her distaste for this but if both parties agree, there is a document you can sign that nullifies the wishes of your parents but you both must have reasons for the nullification of the marriage. So, Yuki-san would have to make it public of her lover and you would need to have a justified reason for backing out. Your family will fight this, saying that you are the sole heir so they need you to carry on the name."

Sakura's face flashed before Itachi's eyes but he refused to speak up. "Tsunade-sama, could you at least put off the wedding till after the end of the ANBU exams and chunnin exams, forcing the wedding until right around the same time as our plan? Make an excuse that I am an intricate part of the planning and security. Tell my father that I must be available at all times and cannot be worried about marriage right now? Buy me a few months, at least until…" Itachi didn't want to use the word 'massacre' but it seemed only fitting.

"Itachi, I will call a meeting with Fugaku right away but I don't know how long I can put off this wedding. You might have to confront your father if you cannot find a legitimate reason to **not** marry Yuki."

"Isn't the fact that I feel nothing for her count for something?"

"To the Uchiha clan? No. Because that is your duty as heir, unless you want Sasuke to take over but that would ruin the whole reason you are deciding to kill yourself along with the other bastards in your family." Tsunade lifted a stack of papers and hit them against her desk once, signaling the end of the conversation. Itachi ran a hand through his bangs, sighed in frustration and promptly left the Hokage's office without another word spoken.

A few weeks had gone by and Sakura and Itachi were able to train with no incidents or complications. Time seemed to fly by and Sakura awoke one morning extremely nervous for some reason. Suddenly, she threw the blankets off her bed and ran to her calendar and realized that the date was December 1st.

'_Holy shit, ANBU exams are only a week away.'_ Sakura froze in her place before realizing she had training with Itachi in an hour. Sakura got ready and left with about fifteen minutes before training should start and made it right on time and Itachi was already standing there, waiting for Sakura.

"Yo, Itachi! We only have a week till ANBU exams! I'm not freakin' ready! I am not strong enough! I haven't gotten better in the slightest, you asshole!" By this time, Sakura was poking Itachi in the chest and staring straight into his eyes. Itachi remained completely unfazed by her aggressive tendencies and looked to his left and nodded. Sakura whipped her head in that direction and gasped at the two figures standing a little out of view. When they stepped into the light, Sakura immediately recognized them as Hana Inuzuka and Genma Shiranui, Itachi's ANBU teammates.

"Sakura, today I have decided to ask Hana and Genma to spar with you so I can judge your progress." Sakura opened her mouth to pose a question but Itachi stopped her with an answer. "And no, you cannot take off your weights. Not yet." Sakura closed her mouth and let out a sigh of frustration. She turned slightly to face Hana and Genma before spinning around and walking to the other end of the training ground. When she reached the edge, she turned around, readied chakra into her fists and shifted her gaze between the three of them.

"Who am I facing first?" Itachi did not give an audible response and only jerked his head and suddenly Hana and Genma disappeared from sight. Before Sakura had time to react, she was ducking to dodge a high kick while simultaneously rolling to the right to dodge a punch. Sakura sheathed her kodachi and sprinted away from the two ANBU and disappeared into the trees, using the few seconds she had to develop a plan.

Sakura only had about eight seconds before felt Genma's chakra signature flicker, allowing her only a millisecond to jump straight down and use the lower level of the trees as cover. Sakura heard movement a head of her approaching at an alarming pace and headed straight towards it. She felt Genma behind her and smirked slightly. When Hana came into view, Sakura did the hand signs for Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu. Suddenly, a massive ball of fire erupted from her lips, setting the trees on fire and creating smoke. This provided cover for Sakura and she jumped out of the trees and into the opening, leaving Genma and Hana to either run into each other or become slightly confused by the smoke.

"Shit." Suddenly, her plan started to go to hell. Genma performed a wind jutsu that Sakura did not know the name of and the smoke disappeared, leaving Hana and Genma standing on a branch smirking down at the kunoichi.

"Not good enough. I thought you said she was strong Itachi-taichou. She seems pretty weak to me." Hana crossed her arms, sat down on the branch and yawned into her hand. Sakura could feel her chakra surge and started to draw in the life force of the grass and animals around her. She created an aura around her and pushed the chakra to her feet and flash stepped behind Genma and Hana. Sakura sent a kick to Genma's side and connected, sending him flying into Hana. Neither shinobi was expecting the attack and promptly started to fall to the ground, trying to right their bodies before they hit the ground. But Sakura was too fast and flipped backwards and started to free fall to the ground. Right before Genma and Hana hit the ground, Sakura grabbed their shirts and spun the around and sent them flying into the clearing.

Sakura gave Genma and Hana a second to recover before sprinting towards them again, killing intent consuming her person. But, instead of anger showing on her face, Sakura had a cold and calculated look to her eyes, as if possessed by a stronger being. She looked to Itachi slightly, as she was running, and he was standing there, smirking at Sakura.

'_Finally.' _Itachi nodded, giving her permission to unleash everything she had on these two ANBU. Sakura halted and reached down to undo her weights but paused and stood back up. Instead, she sent chakra to her weights and added fifty more pounds to each weight and stood back up, her arms slightly trembling. Neither Genma nor Hana noticed this but Itachi's eyes widened slightly in response. But as soon as Sakura paused, she was sprinting towards the two ANBU, fists full of chakra, ready to beat them.

The battle waged on for almost an hour with no clear winner. Sakura's punches and kicks were heavier due to the weights but they also wore on her stamina. She lost some of her agility but whatever chakra she lost, she slowly sucked out of the nature surrounding her. Sakura's eyes widened slightly as Hana and Genma attacked and saw her opening. She sprinted towards Genma and sent a kick to his chest and connected, sending him flying back into a tree and knocking him unconscious. Unfortunately, Sakura timed her execution only a second too late and Hana sent a kick to her side and pounced on top of her, putting a kunai to her neck and effectively pinning her arms down with her calves. Both women were panting but Sakura was first to speak.

"I give." Hana smiled and stood up, offering Sakura a slight peace offering by giving her a hand. Sakura graciously placed her hand in Hana's, allowing to be pulled to her feet. Genma was groaning slightly and Sakura rushed to his side, placing her hands on his head and healing whatever damage had been done. Hana came over and started making fun of Genma and teased him for getting knocked out by a woman and a jounin.

"Well, she isn't gonna be jounin for long if she fights like that. Geez Sakura, did you have to hit me so hard?"

"Um, yeah, I did. I needed to knock you out so that I was only facing one opponent but I guess I timed it a second too late."

"Yeah but Sakura that was one of the toughest fights I have been in. And I spar with Itachi, a lot!" Hana clapped Sakura on the back and smiled brightly down at the petite girl, towering over her at almost five feet eleven inches.

"Hana is right Sakura; you will make one hell of an ANBU. Itachi has taught you well." At the mention of Itachi, Sakura spun around and saw that Itachi was only a few paces away. Sakura excused herself and walked over to the stoic Uchiha and kept her eyes trained on the ground. When she reached Itachi, she lifted her head to look at him directly in the eyes.

"Did I do well, Itachi?" Sakura couldn't believe how confident the words sounded, even though she was nervous to hear his answer. Itachi didn't answer right away, allowing himself the opportunity to study the face of the kunoichi in front of him. He chose his next words very carefully and looked at her lips when he said this.

"You have exceeded all of my expectations." Sakura gasped and blushed slightly at the intense stare that Itachi was giving her and licked her lips unconsciously. She watched Itachi's eyes narrow and flicker up to her eyes and all Sakura wanted to do was go on her toes and connect their lips but took a step backwards instead. She didn't speak a word; the non-verbal exchange consisted of only a nod on Sakura's part, signaling that she would be here tomorrow for a training session before disappearing with a puff of smoke.

Itachi released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and noticed that Hana and Genma had watched the exchange.

"Itachi, you know that you can't—"

"I am well aware Genma. You needn't remind me, it is becoming hard enough."

"Itachi, haven't you thought of her not being your protégé? Take the risk and start courting her? She could work in the hospital and teach your children. With the smarts that you two have, your kids will be certifiable geniuses by the age of four." Itachi looked to Hana and narrowed his eyes.

"And if she or I die before that?" Itachi turned away and started to walk back towards town but Hana refused to let him have to last word.

"Then maybe your skills are too dangerous to pass on to the next generation." But before Itachi could respond, Hana disappeared from sight along with Genma, leaving Itachi to his own thoughts.

Sakura kicked a rock as she walked back to her apartment. The frustration was slowly building inside of Sakura but she refused to explode.

'_I need this. I need to be in ANBU._' Sakura sighed trying to maintain the same conviction she once had but the desire was slowly slipping from her grasp and it was all because of Itachi. '_Stupid, stupid Uchiha. And now Sasuke has told me to leave Itachi alone even though he supposedly has something to do with a coup d'état… I wonder if I should go talk to Tsunade-shishou about this. She ought to know about this but Sasuke also told me not to talk to anyone about it… But I can't just sit back and watch this unfold…_' Sakura was too confused to understand what was happening. When had her life become so confusing?

Sakura sighed and decided to go to Tsunade and discuss with her the information that Sasuke had shared with her but on her way to the Hokage's office, in an empty backstreet of Konoha, a figure grabbed Sakura around the waist and around her mouth and brought her into a dead end that was shadowed by the darkness. Sakura immediately started to struggle, grabbed at anything she could. Finally she grabbed onto the cloak of her attacker and managed to rip a piece from the cloth and held it in her grasp.

"Stop struggling or I will slit your throat." Sakura immediately ceased her efforts and took deep breaths to calm down and come up with a plan. "Listen very carefully kunoichi because I will only say this once. A certain group of shinobi is extremely interested in your skills and we want you to join us. At this moment, this is a request but if you decide to refuse us… It will no longer become voluntary." Sakura could feel the hot breath of her attacker rush down her shirt but Sakura could only pay attention to the feeling of fear that was washing over her. Unable to properly process the events occurring was enabling her ability to attack.

'_Itachi…' _Sakura closed her eyes, hoping that this man would leave her alone.

"We can give you skills beyond your imagination and power that will rival any Kage that has come before you. We will give you until the day before the ANBU exams to make your decision. If you have decided to join on your own free will, place a red flag outside of your bedroom window. If by the day before the ANBU exams, you do not give us the signal then we will come for you." Sakura felt the hand that was around her waist slowly crawl up under her shirt and brush over the underside of her breast. Only clad in a sports bra, Sakura could feel the bad of his thumb brush her. She stiffened in response and relaxed slightly when the man started to move his hand but started to panic when it started to move south. The man slipped his hand past the front of her pants and she could feel his hand on her.

"Your pussy is _mine_." The man rubbed Sakura's clit and ran a finger between her folds. Sakura bit her lip, refusing to give this man the pleasure of making a sound. Sakura's mind was screaming for her to fight back but she was absolutely frozen in place. Even though she tried to will the muscles in her body to move, she couldn't. Before Sakura could try to protest, she felt the pressure from her body disappear and she spun around to see only darkness.

And with that, the mysterious man disappeared and left Sakura standing there in the alley shaking from fear. She slowly made her way out into the middle of the street, crawling on only her hands and knees, desperately searching for anyone to help her.

'_This is what civilian women must feel like.' _Every muscle in Sakura's body was shaking and she could feel the air around her become thick, forcing her to take shallow breaths. She clenched her fists, making sure to keep the only object she could use to identify her attacker in her fists. She couldn't control the shaking as she felt her whole world crashing down around her and felt the tears slowly start to fall down her face.

'_Someone has been watching me, knows where I live and dragged me into an alley and I was powerless to stop them. I hadn't even noticed anything and he acted as if I wasn't even a threat. Am I that powerless? Am I that weak?_'

"Sakura?" Sakura snapped her head upwards and saw Itachi looking down at her. Sakura's lips curved upwards, almost in a smile before she felt the same power from the man who assaulted her and jolted backwards, looking around frantically.

"Show yourself you coward!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking slightly as she choked on her tears. Itachi tried to approach her but Sakura was too frightened to understand friend from foe.

"I can't, don't—just don't come near me… I—what do you want from me?" Sakura's arms collapsed under her and she laid in the fetal position on the ground, clutching the piece of cloth in her hand. She kept mumbling to herself about 'weakness' and refused to acknowledge Itachi. Itachi slowly walked towards Sakura but refused to move quickly for fear of frightening the women on the ground. He pondered exactly whom she was shouting to earlier because while he felt a strong chakra signature, it was not abnormal for shinobi to wander the streets of Konoha because many were plagued with insomnia from nightmares of those they have killed.

'_Did someone within the village attack Sakura?' _Itachi crouched down, paused, and then picked Sakura up bridal style. He looked down at the broken girl in front of him and decided to bring her back to his apartment to figure out why she has been reduced to a shell of nothingness at the moment.

Itachi laid Sakura down on his couch and went to go make some tea, trying to find a remedy to calm to young girl down. When he came back into the room, Sakura had sat up and was starting at a piece of cloth she held in her hands. She made no recognition that Itachi had entered the room but once he sat down, Sakura couldn't help but tell him what happened. The words poured from her mouth and Itachi sat and sipped his tea while listening to the young woman's story.

"I was walking towards the Hokage's office after training and was suddenly pulled into an alley by a mysterious man. He covered my mouth and grabbed me around my waist. He told me that he was a part of an organization that was interested in my abilities. He—" Sakura hesitated in telling Itachi about his promise of power but calmed down a little more and started speaking again. "He promised me unimaginable power and great success. He told me I wouldn't be weak and that I would surpass the Kage's before me… He said that I have before the ANBU exams to make my decision and if I don't… that they will come for me." Sakura desperately wanted to tell someone that this man touched her inappropriately but she didn't want to face the judgment of her peers. The tears threatened to fall again but shook her head, trying to stop them. Itachi sat there very quietly, not saying a single word, just looking at Sakura. He knew that she was hiding something because he knew that this encounter would not leave Sakura so shaken.

"Is it okay if I ask some questions?"

"There is no guarantee I will answer them." Sakura responded very quickly, whispering her response. Itachi nodded and took a breath.

"What is your decision at this moment?"

"I will not join." Sakura's voice quivered with uncertainty but Itachi refused to comment.

"If you decided to go, what would your reason be?"

"I don't want to be weak."

"Sakura," She snapped her head up, the seriousness in Itachi's voice making her slightly worried, "why were you going to the Hokage's office?" Sakura froze in her place and looked down at her hands, fiddling with the piece of cloth. Suddenly, Itachi's arms were on either side of Sakura's head and he towered over her.

"Itachi?" Sakura looked up into Itachi's eyes and watched his sharingan spin.

"Sakura, why were you going to the Hokage's office? It's a simple question and do **not** try to lie to me." Itachi's face was close to Sakura's but the last thing on either of their minds was an intimate moment.

"I—Itachi…"

"Tell me NOW!" Sakura jumped at Itachi yelling, having never heard that tone of voice before.

"I—I… I can't." Sakura looked away and Itachi pushed himself backwards and ran a hand through his hair.

"Sakura, if you went to her for a reason I believe, I must talk with you about it."

"Why would I tell you anything?" Sakura stood up and pushed Itachi slightly getting in his face. "You have kept everything at an arm's length from me. All I want is to help and you keep pushing me away! What do you want from me?"

"I don't know!" Itachi turned away from Sakura, cursing under his breath at letting his emotions get the better of him. "Enough is enough Sakura. This cannot continue. Please, excuse yourself from my presence and report to the Hokage of what has happened." Itachi turned back around and stiffened as Sakura closed the space between them. Sakura hesitated for a moment and started heading towards the door and reached for the handle but before she left, with her back still to Itachi, she decided to gamble.

"Itachi. I will tell you why I was going to visit the Hokage under one condition." Sakura refused to face Itachi, knowing that she wouldn't be able to give the condition if she was staring at him.

"Kiss me." Sakura turned around and looked at Itachi. She could see the inner battle going on in his mind whether or not to take her up on her offer.

"Sakura, I cannot do this." Sakura felt the pain of rejection well up in her chest and the tears fill in her eyes.

"I understand. Goodnight Itachi." Sakura opened the door and was surprised to see Genma standing there, who was equally surprised to see Sakura standing there. Politely excusing herself, Sakura dashed around the ANBU and down the stairs, trying to flee from her sadness.

Genma looked up and saw Itachi running his hand through his hair. The genius sighed and collapsed onto his couch in frustration.

"What Genma?" Itachi could feel a vein pulsing in his forehead, his anger being directed towards the shinobi standing in the doorway.

"I was talking with Tsunade when an ANBU came in and said there was some rogue shinobi running around our lands. She wants us in her office tomorrow morning. This is just a scouting mission so shouldn't take more than a day or two." Itachi nodded and closed his eyes and when he didn't hear the door close he looked back towards Genma.

"Do you need something?" Itachi couldn't help the anger flow through his words and Genma proceeded to take the hint.

"Nope, see ya tomorrow." Itachi sighed as he heard the door close, happy to be rid of all company. When he opened his eyes, his focus was drawn towards the piece of cloth Sakura left on his table from drinking his tea. He picked up the piece of cloth and studied it before putting it in his vest pocket. Knowing that these next few days were not going to be fun, Itachi tried to go to sleep early but quickly found himself thinking about the request of the pink haired kunoichi.

'_God damn it.'_ Itachi lay on his back, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He turned to his left and saw that the clock read 4:32 AM. Itachi was not even able to meditate because every time he closed his eyes, images of Sakura and that request of hers plagued his mind.

"Fuck!" Itachi let his emotions get the better of him as he allowed the curse word to escape his lips. "Why am I allowing this one girl destroy everything I've worked for. Maybe I do need to call off the protégé thing so I can separate myself from Sakura and allow her to find someone better than me." Itachi could stop the feeling that welled up in his chest at the thought of Sakura being with another man. Itachi didn't understand what he was feeling, only that it felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest and he had a sudden urge to strangle any man.

'_Is this… jealousy?_' The concept was so foreign to Itachi and he could quite grasp the idea. He rare felt emotions, or he wasn't allowed to, '_so why was this suddenly happening? Was it because of Sakura? Or my own weaknesses showing? Is training Sakura making me weaker?' _ Itachi let out a groan of frustration and decided that he needed some fresh air. Getting dressed for his meeting with Tsunade, Itachi shut and locked his door, knowing he would not be returning for a few days.

Itachi was tired and soaking wet from the days of rain Konoha and its surrounding area was experiencing. Because this was a scouting mission and it was raining, making a fire was near impossible. Luckily they hadn't spotted anything or anyone in two days and they made plans to return to the village that night.

Itachi looked down at the cloth is in his hands and studied it one more time, trying to find a clue as to who it belonged to. He wanted to rip apart the person who dared threaten his protégé. He clenched his fist in frustration but released the tension in his body with a sigh. The base color of the cloak was black and this particular piece had a white stripe that was slightly curved and the rest was red. The white looked like an outline of an object that was red but Itachi could not make out exactly what the object was with only this piece.

Itachi quickly pocketed the cloth and made a scan of the area. No one had breached his traps but if the shinobi was an upper level ninja, then they might be skilled enough to pass some of them. Suddenly, Itachi felt an uneasy feeling wash over him and decided to go out and search. He kicked Genma and Hana awake and they were immediately on their feet.

"I have a feeling. Go search and come back in fifteen minutes. Code is: The hunter hunts but what happens if the hunter becomes hunted?" The other two nodded and with a blink of the eye, they were all gone, searching their respective areas.

Ten minutes had passed and Itachi hadn't seen or felt a thing except for the gut wrenching feeling that was grabbing at the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, a burst of chakra was coming from his right and suddenly disappeared but Itachi already had their location and they were currently running away. Itachi sprinted towards the chakra signature and pulled his mic out from his pouch.

"Genma, Hana. I found something. Follow my chakra." Itachi allowed for his chakra to flare for only twenty seconds before Hana and Genma were flanking him.

"He is about fifty yards ahead. Approach with caution for we do not know his skills." Itachi nodded and Hana and Genma spread out to try and stop the unknown shinobi in his tracks. Itachi pushed chakra into his feet, increasing his speed. He suddenly saw the tip of a black cloak and threw a kunai, effectively pinning the man to a tree for only a second but it was enough time for Itachi to catch up to the man and tackle him. Suddenly, he found himself with a knee on the sternum of a man below him. Itachi grabbed the man around the throat but was forced off when the unknown shinobi kneed Itachi in the back. Itachi did a front tumble and quickly ready himself with a kunai in one hand and his other prepared to attack or defend.

"Unlucky for me, I got the Uchiha on my ass. Yeesh, my day couldn't get any worse. Well, Uchiha, what are we gonna do now?" Itachi studied the man in front of him and made sure to note every feature for a future description, in case he was to get away. The man had the appearance of a fish. He stood at almost seven feet tall and was completely blue. As strange as his appearance was, Itachi refused to look fazed by this man and held his ground. When he smiled, his teeth were pointy and his eyes were small circles, way too small to be properly proportional to his face. He had a large sword strapped to his back that was wrapped in bandages but the interesting part about this man was that, besides the mark Itachi left in his cloak, the man had a sizable rip on his cloak. Itachi reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of cloth that Sakura left in his apartment and it was a perfect match.

"You attacked Sakura?" Itachi could feel his chakra surging off him in waves, anger flooding into every inch of his body. He could feel his fingers become numb with anticipation and his index finger twitched.

"The little pink-haired bitch? Ya that was me. What'ya gonna do about it?" The shark-nin grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled it over his shoulder. The sword looked massive but the man swung it around as if it was as light as a feather.

"I'm going to kill you." Itachi felt Hana and Genma drop to the ground behind him and he signaled for them to move to the shinobi's left a right. He saw the ninja tense, realizing that he suddenly had become outmatched. His eyes suddenly started darting around and Itachi took his opportunity and attacked. He sped forward, faster than anyone could trace and sent a kick to the shinobi's stomach and sent him flying backwards into a tree, effectively knocking the wind out of him. Itachi stood his ground and watched as the shinobi realized that he had a few broken ribs.

"What is your name? I want to know your name before I kill you." Itachi waited for a response but grew impatient and charged forward, grabbing the shinobi around his neck and pinned him against the tree. His sharingan was spinning with anger as he forced the ninja to look into his eyes. Before the ninja passed out from Itachi's Tsukuyomi, he whispered his name.

"K—K—Kisame Hoshigaki." Itachi kept squeezing, even after the man-shark became unconscious.

"Itachi! Let go! We have to bring him back!" Genma grabbed Itachi's wrist and pulled back, trying to get Itachi to let go. Hana quickly joined in and they were able to successfully pry Itachi's fingers from around Kisame's throat. Itachi watched as the shinobi's body dropped to the ground in a heap and spun around, his back facing Genma and Hana.

"Genma, Hana, we are taking him back to the village. Both of you carry him back and I will make sure that we have a safe trip back."

"Hai, sir!" And so they started back to the village. Itachi in front and Genma and Hana struggling with the seven foot tall, unconscious shinobi in their arms and as Itachi saw the gates in the distance, he looked back at Kisame and glared. He wanted that man awake for questioning as soon as possible so he could get some answers.

"We managed to capture the shinobi. He is with Ibiki-san and Anko-san. This is also the man that attacked Sakura." Tsunade's pen stopped with the mention of Sakura and looked up to Itachi.

"Sakura was attacked?" Itachi frowned, upset that Sakura did not go to the Hokage about her attack

"Yes, speak to her about it." He refused to elaborate because he was more concerned with the fact that they had a prisoner in their possession that needed to be punished and interrogated.

"Itachi, you may not go near the prisoner. You are too close."

"That is unacceptable." Tsunade's pen halted on the paper she was signing and looked up at Itachi.

"Are you disobeying a direct order?"

"Let me talk to him. It's the least this village could do for me." Itachi stared at Tsunade who sat back in her chair, in defeat.

"Fine but go get rest. The ANBU exams have officially been scheduled for four days. It is only a combat test against current ANBU. They will have two fights in one day. You may inform Sakura of this. You cannot talk to the prisoner until tomorrow evening after training with Sakura" Tsunade dismissed Itachi and he turned with a frustrating groan and disappeared before he reached the door.

Sakura jolted out of bed when she heard pounding on her door. She looked over to her clock and read that it was almost three thirty in the morning.

"What the…" The pounding continued, more forcibly than the last set so Sakura forced her body to move and headed to the door. Flinging it open, she was presented with the sight of Itachi, who just happened to be soaking wet from the rain.

"Sakura…" Itachi was panting and struggling to speak. He calmed his breathing before running a hand through his hair which was now free from the confines of a hair tie.

"Yes Itachi?" Sakura could feel the butterflies start to form in her stomach as Itachi's gaze felt like it was burning her skin. She curled her toes as the desire she felt for the man before her started to pool below her bellybutton. She could feel her finger tips become numb and her skin tingled with anticipation and desire.

"We caught the man who grabbed you." Itachi leaned on her door frame, feeling the fatigue wash over his body from hours of training in the rain. Sakura cocked her head to the side, noticing the quiver in his muscles and the slight flush that rose to his cheeks. Sakura, instinctually, raised her hand to Itachi's forehead but before she could connect, Itachi pulled back, as if her touch would burn him.

"Itachi, you look sick. How long have you been in the rain?" Sakura went to grab Itachi's arm to lead him into her apartment but, again, Itachi recoiled. Sakura became frustrated with the man before her and decided he was wasting her time. "Fine, Itachi, if you want to be this way that is fine by me." Sakura proceeded to slam the door in Itachi's face but as she approached her bedroom, she heard a thud outside her door and could only assume that Itachi had collapsed. When Sakura opened the door, Itachi was still conscious but the fever was overcoming his body and slowly forcing his limbs to shut down, to allow that energy to be used towards fighting off sickness.

Sakura sighed and lifted Itachi from his spot and placed him on her bed. Sakura grabbed a kunai and started to remove the wet clothes from Itachi's body. When she had him stripped down to his boxers, she fished around the bottom of her closet, hoping to find a shirt and shorts that one of her teammates might have left at her house. Finding a shirt and pants of Naruto, Sakura redressed the Uchiha, trying not to pay attention to the almost naked man on her bed, who was currently on the verge of passing out. When Itachi was dressed, Sakura placed her hands on his head and started the healing process. Knowing that even the most skilled medics couldn't heal the common cold, Sakura knew that this fever was more dangerous than Itachi realized and knew that if she didn't do something, Itachi could be in danger.

Working through the early hours of the morning, Sakura could feel her eyelids become heavy and her chakra start to fluctuate. She kept drawing more and more chakra from her reserves and only stopped when she felt Itachi's fever break. As soon as he stopped shivering and regained consciousness, Sakura collapsed beside him, never hearing Itachi whisper his thanks to her.

When Sakura woke the next morning, she found herself in her bed where Itachi should have been.

'_Of course he wouldn't stick around._' Sakura sighed and ran her hand through her hair as she sat up, her back resting against the backboard of her bed. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Sakura blinked a few times before looking at the clock, reading 11:34 AM. '_Only a few hours of sleep, not terrible._' Sakura grasped her hands together and lifted them over her head, stretching the sore muscles she acquired from healing Itachi most of the night.

"If that asshole gets sick because he left…" Sakura didn't finish the statement as a massive yawn occurred. Deciding that she lay in bed for long enough, Sakura decided to get ready for the day and do some shopping before her training session with Itachi.

Sakura smiled as the warm sunshine hit her face, unusual for the normally cold and dreary winters of Konoha. Sakura shivered as the wind decided to remind her that while the sun was out, winter was still here. Sakura wrapped her arms around her body, trying to shield herself from the cold and walked briskly to town, trying to warm up her body from the persistent breeze.

Sakura stopped by different food markets, gathering food for the next week or so. Sakura never bought an abundant amount of food at once, even though it sometimes proved to be cheaper, because she could be called on at any moment and did not want to come back to a refrigerator filled with rotten food. Sakura shopped for about two hours and made it back to her apartment without an incident.

'_Everyone must be on a mission, inside or training._' Sakura felt a sense of sadness come over her at thought of not seeing anyone while she was out. It would have been the only time in the next few days she would be able to see anyone. Sakura sighed as she put away her groceries and when she was done, she heard a quiet knock on her door and threw the plastic bags away as she approached the door.

"Hello Itachi, glad to see you alive. It would be a shame if you died before the ANBU exams." Sakura left the door open and turned her back to Itachi and continued to put away some clothes she purchased. Leaving Itachi to his own devices, Sakura knew that if what he had to say was important, he would wait. After saving his life last night, Sakura felt it was the least he could do. When she walked back into the main living room, she noticed Itachi was in the kitchen, preparing a pot of tea. Sakura smiled and walked into the kitchen, sitting on the counter, waiting for Itachi to speak.

"My actions last night were reckless." It wasn't an apology but Sakura knew it was as close as she was going to get, Itachi admitting he had a lapse in judgment.

"And this morning." Itachi looked at Sakura confused by her response before turning back to his tea. "Your actions this morning were reckless as well."

"Do not presume that because of what I said means you have the right to chastise as you would a child." Itachi never looked at Sakura to speak to her but she could hear the slight hitch in his voice. Not many would be able to hear such a slight but Sakura had been around so much that the subtleties in his actions and words gave Itachi away sometimes.

"Whatever Itachi, I am so done with this shit." Sakura hopped off the counter and proceeded to lie down on her couch with the back of her knees resting on the armrest and her legs dangling.

She heard the '_clink_' of mugs and assumed Itachi was making tea for her as well. Sakura heard Itachi's footsteps and pulled herself upright and allowed Itachi some room to sit.

"What do you want Itachi?" Sakura grabbed the mug and blew on the liquid, trying to cool the liquid down faster.

"As you know, the ANBU exams are only a few days away. Tsunade has informed me of the format."

"It's not the same as always? Practical and the physical." Itachi shook his head and put down his mug.

"No. I have heard from ANBU that Tsunade is changing it because she believes that Konoha's ANBU have become… soft." Sakura snorted slightly and mumbled something. Itachi looked at her curiously, silently asking her to repeat the words she said.

"I said, not the ANBU I know." Itachi allowed a slight twitch of his lip but masked it immediately.

"Anyway, this time, you will be forced to fight two ANBU members in the span of only a few hours. Each ANBU will be fresh while you will have no time to rest." Sakura nodded and frowned slightly.

"Will I have to fight you?" Sakura felt the hesitation in the room, waiting for Itachi's response.

"Perhaps."

'_Not a yes, not a no.' _Sakura sighed in frustration and put her tea down, still extremely hot.

"I hope not." Sakura couldn't stop the words as they spilled from her mouth.

"Oh? And why is that?" Sakura wanted to make some snarky remark such as, 'because I do not want to embarrass you in front of all your friends' but decided to be unusually truthful to the Uchiha.

"'Cause I can't beat you." Sakura took another sip of her tea and shivered as the warm liquid slid down her throat and into her stomach. It was so hot; Sakura could trace its path up to a certain point. She heard Itachi stand but refused to look at him until he spoke.

"I doubt you will beat anyone with that attitude." Sakura's grip on her cup tightened until it shattered, spilling hot liquid on her hands.

"Shit!" Sakura stood up and walked to the kitchen, immediately putting her left hand under cold water, feeling the burn start to form. Before the burn was too bad, Sakura put healing chakra into her right, unscathed hand and healed the burns. She could hear Itachi in the other room picking up the shattered pieces and sighed. Frustrated, Sakura kept chakra gathered in her hand and punched her cabinet, her hand going straight through but avoided any objects within. Retracting her hand, Sakura looked at the damage done and noticed her knuckles were bloody and filled with splinters.

"You need to keep your emotions in check."

"Don't think that because I said that to you, you can chastise me as you would a child." Sakura retorted, using Itachi's words against him. Sakura walked away from Itachi and back into the living room, running her hand through her hair.

"I mean not to chastise, just to instruct." Sakura felt herself become angrier at Itachi by the second.

"Only you can make me feel this…" Sakura turned around and looked into Itachi's eyes and narrowed them slightly, "angry." Before Sakura could blink, Itachi was behind her, whispering into her ear.

"Use that anger. Harness it and use it to your advantage." Sakura could not help her body's movements as she leaned back into Itachi's body, seeking the warmth he provided. Itachi visibly stiffened at the contact but eventually relaxed and placed his hands on Sakura hips. Sakura allowed her head to tip backwards onto Itachi's shoulders, exposing her neck to Itachi's gaze.

Before this got out of control, Itachi stepped backwards and used his hands to push Sakura away from his body. As if that snapped her from a daze, Sakura suddenly gathered her surroundings and blushed furiously, criticizing herself for allowing a lapse in judgment.

"I will take my leave." Itachi started towards the door but Sakura stopped him with her voice.

"Itachi, wait. We need to talk about this, like adults." Sakura knew this was the last conversation she wanted to have but it was definitely necessary.

"After the exams." And with that, Itachi left and Sakura threw another punch at her wall, this time foregoing the chakra.

During the next few days, Sakura and Itachi rarely spoke unless Itachi was correcting her on her mistakes. Eventually, it was the day before the ANBU exams and Sakura arrived at the training ground to find Itachi sitting and meditation.

Sakura sat down across from Itachi and assumed the position. Almost an hour had passed and Sakura couldn't focus her mind.

"Part of your problem is that you attack with your emotions, you must remain calm and focused. This whole time, I have tried to force you into harnessing your emotions, now I want you to force the emotions from your body and use your mind to best your opponents." Sakura sighed and started taking deep breaths, focusing her thoughts on nothing and yet everything. Sakura allowed her mind to become empty. All thoughts of ANBU exams and Itachi fled her mind as if the calm chased them away.

"Feel that? Replicate that when you are fighting. Allow your instincts to take over and do not become emotionally charged. I have taught you the jutsus and the techniques, now your fate is in your hands." Itachi stood up and offered his hand to Sakura who took it and allowed her body to be pulled to an erect position.

Jumping backwards, away from Itachi, Sakura took deep breaths and brought back that feeling that she had when she was meditating and opened her eyes. Itachi inwardly smirked as he saw the cold and calculating eyes of a true killer appear on Sakura's face. Itachi pulled a kunai from his pouch and assumed a fighting stance, as did Sakura. For a while, Sakura and Itachi just stood, occasionally moving left or right to try and catch the other off guard. And then, for the first time in their spars, Itachi attacked first.

Normally, Sakura's eyes would widen with shock and she would feel fear fill her body but not now. Sakura felt at peace because she was able to see Itachi approach. She sidestepped as Itachi sent a punch towards her face and turned to face him. Before Itachi could react, Sakura sent a kick flying upwards, trying to catch Itachi's chin. But failed to connect when Itachi turned his head to the side, and felt her show graze his ear and he immediately pushed chakra to his feet and charged at Sakura. She also pushed chakra into her feet but used that to propel her body into the hair and leaped over Itachi, doing a single flip before landing, facing Itachi, and charging at his back.

Never had Sakura felt this calm and collected as she fought Itachi. Then, Itachi and Sakura came face to face as the exchanged punches and kicks in a purely taijutsu battle, at the moment at least. Sakura was able to dodge every punch and kick, as was Itachi, but the difference was Sakura felt as though she knew how Itachi was going to attack before he did. It was a strange sensation and suddenly, a twig snapped in the distance which distracted Sakura for a second, losing her concentration on keeping calm and Itachi took advantage and punched her in the stomach, sending her about ten feet backwards.

"Fuck." Sakura remained on the ground, trying to catch her breath and cursed again under her breath.

"Good. Again." Sakura stood and got back into her 'trance,' as she liked to call it, and they went again.

And again, and again, and again. Itachi and Sakura kept fighting from seven at night to almost dawn. Sakura was covered in bruises and Itachi had a few from Sakura occasionally besting Itachi but the victory was short lived because her excitement would distract her and he would take advantage of it.

After one fight, at about 4 AM, only ten hours before the ANBU exams commenced, Sakura stayed on the ground and caught her breath.

"You would be able to beat me once or twice if you did not get so excited at the idea of landing a hit." Itachi could tell Sakura was becoming frustrated

"But it's an accomplishment to land a hit on the great Uchiha Itachi though."

"Not for you. Not anymore. Sakura, you are a powerful shinobi, have confidence. This time, _when_ you hit me, if you lose your focus, I will pull your name from the ANBU exams." Sakura's eyes widened but she stood, centered her mind and assumed a neutral stance. Itachi followed her example and waited only a second before attacking her. Again, Sakura could feel Itachi coming at her, but slower than normal. Suddenly, Sakura drew her kodachi and was able to block Itachi's attack. Sparks flew as blades collided but Sakura's gaze never wavered and her chakra never flared. She remained perfectly calm as she pushed Itachi back using chakra. The slight push allowed her room to press forward an attack using her kodachis. Strike after strike resulted in the collision of blades. Sakura pushed Itachi back and did a spin, bringing her kodachis upwards in an arch out of the spin and the force was enough to force Itachi to retreat slightly.

Sakura sheathed her kodachi and did a series of hand signs and whispered the name of the jutsu, Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu, before a huge blast came from her lips, heading straight towards Itachi. Itachi dodged the blast and cast a genjutsu upon Sakura. Sakura looked around and noticed the slight changes in the environment, details that a shinobi casting a quick genjutsu would not think about remembering. Sakura put her hands together and whispered the release but took too much time and Itachi was already two feet away, his fist clenched and retracted slightly.

Sakura did not have enough time to dodge the punch, instead, she allowed Itachi to punch her but stood firm, feeling her cheek bone cave under the pressure and break. Not even allowing a wince, Sakura took advantage of the proximity and delivered an uppercut that connected and sent Itachi into the air. As instructed, Sakura didn't allow her focus to waver and shot upwards. As Itachi tried to right his body in the air, Sakura was already there and kicked Itachi in the stomach, sending him into a tree. The wind was knocked out of Itachi temporarily but he stood quickly and winced as he tried to straighten his body. Sakura didn't allow him to dwell on the injury for too long, her own injury extremely painful as well.

Sakura sprinted forward and threw her shoulder into Itachi, knocking him the ground. Itachi used her momentum to flip her over him and he rolled backwards, towards Sakura and when he came out of the roll, spun and tried to punch her. Sakura ducked under the punch and again, put her shoulder into Itachi, hitting his broken ribs for the second time in only seconds, sending a burst of pain through Itachi's body. Itachi landed on his back, Sakura above him. He flipped them over, regaining the advantage but Sakura, preparing for this move, used her flexibility to wrap her legs around Itachi, using her thighs to crush his ribs even more. The pain made Itachi's arms cave and gave Sakura the opportunity to flip them over again and drew a kunai from her pouch and held it to his neck.

They both remained still, panting from the exercise until Sakura realized the implications of what occurred.

"I… won?" Itachi let out a small grunt, pushing Sakura off him as he held his rips. He tried to sit up further but Sakura crushed his ribs so much that pieces of bone now floated amongst his muscles, an injury even the strongest shinobi couldn't stand.

"Allow me to heal you." Sakura brought healing chakra to her hands and easily repaired the injury. Although it took almost five minutes to find every piece of bone and make sure it was constructed again correctly, Sakura sat back and healed her cheek bone injury while Itachi stood and brushed off his clothes. Sakura stood and faced Itachi who only spoke three words to her.

"You are ready."

**End.**

**Hey guys, sorry for such a delay in update. My chapters are long and school makes it really challenging to write. I try to write every day but exams make that difficult.**

**Thank you for all the reviews. I love getting them! If you guys have advice, I am always open to ideas. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-LilBitzer**


End file.
